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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


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WEBSTER,  N.Y.  145  JO 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiques 


h 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
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n 

D 
D 


n 


D 


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18X  22X 


10X 


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26X 


30X 


7 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


ills 

iu 

difier 

ine 

lage 


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whichever  applies. 


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dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
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method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
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Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m^thode. 


rata 

3 


telure, 


J 


32X 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

THE  ROUTE  TO  ALASKA 


I 


135° 


i'J 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA 


A  JOURNAL    OF  A  TOUR  AMONG    THE 

MOUNTAINS,  SEAS  AND  ISLANDS 

OF  THE  NORTHWEST,  FROM 

SAN  FRANCISCO  TO 

SITKA 


BY 


ABBY  JOHNSON  WOODMAN 


BOSTON   AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

€&e  Clltwrj^iOe  l^reiitf,  Cambridge 
1890 


Copyright,  1889, 
Bv  ABBY  JOHNSON  WOODMAN. 

All  rights  reserved. 


'■:■ 


THIRD  EDITION. 


P.-.    ' 


M-- 


The  Riverside  Prest,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed,  by  U.  O.  Houghton  &  Company. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


The  value  and  importance  of  the  acqui- 
sition of  Alaska,  through  the  efforts  of 
Secretary  Seward  and  Senator  Sumner, 
are  now  beginning  to  be  realized  and  ap- 
preciated. Apart,  however,  from  material 
benefits  which  must  accrue  to  the  country, 
from  its  vast  resources  of  mines,  lumber, 
and  fisheries,  the  grandeur  and  picturesque- 
neos  of  its  scenery  are  attracting  the  at- 
tention of  tourists,  and  the  tide  of  sum- 
mer travel  must  soon  set  strongly  in  that 
direction. 

This  little  volume,  written,  with  no 
thought  of  publicity,  at  car-windows  and 
from  the  decks  of  steamboats,  in  sight  of 
the  objects  described,  has  something  of 
the  freshness  and  vividness  of  reality,  like 
a  chain  of  photographic  impressions  from 


Iv 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


Mount  Shasta  to  Mount  Elias.  Its  un- 
studied but  truthful  pictures  may  be  of 
interest  to  those  who  have  seen  the  won- 
derful region  of  mountains,  glaciers,  and 
inland  seas,  and  to  those  who  are  hoping 
or  expecting  to  visit  it,  and  to  the  larger 
number  who  are  only  able  to  travel  by 
proxy,  and  see  through  the  eyes  of  others. 

JOHN  G.  WHITTIER. 
Danvers,  February  i8,  1889. 


CONTENTS. 


t 

PAGB 

I,  Mount  Shasta  and  the  Pass  of  Siski- 
you      9 

II.  Mount  Hood,  Mount  Tacoma,  and  Puget 

Sound 44 

III.  Victoria  and  Nanaimo,  B.  C,  to  Fort 

Tongas,  Alaska 68 

IV.  From  Dixon's  Entrance  to  Juneau    .      107 
V.  Sitka,  Juneau,  and  Douglas  Island      .  161 

VI.  Return  to  Tacoma 185 

VII.  Conclusion 209 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

-     »     - 

/AGS 

Map  of  Alaska  Route   .  Facittf  TWe. 

Totem  Poles '" 

Indian  Graves,  Fort  Wrangell  .       .       •  ^39 

Juneau '45 

Floating  Ice,  Takou  Inlet  ....  '49 

MuiR  Glacier ^57 

Sitka '^S 

Note.    The  above  illustrations  are  from  photographs 
taken  by  W.  H.  Partridge,  of  Boston. 


PICTURESQUE   ALASKA 


MOUNT  SHASTA  AND   THE  PASS  OF  SISKIYOU. 


April  5,  1888.  We  started  from  San 
Francisco  at  3.30  p.  m.,  and  crossed  the 
ferry  to  Oakland,  where  we  joined  a  party  of 
tourists  going  to  Oregon.  As  we  followed 
the  shore  of  the  beautiful  Bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, northward  to  San  Pablo,  and  thence 
bending  eastward  toward  Port  Costa,  we 
looked  out  over  the  brown  water  to  the 
pretty  islands,  the  boats,  ships,  and  steam- 
ers, some  incoming  from  Portland  and 
other  northern  cities,  and  others  outward 
bound  for  San  Diego  and  intervening  ports. 
We  caught  just  a  glimpse  of  the  "  Golden 
Gate,"  and  saw  the  white  walls  of  pretty 
"illas  and  towns  on  the  farther  shore ; 
realizing  in  one  comprehensive  view  some- 


I 


10 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


thing  of  the  magnitude  and  exceptional 
beauty  of  that  finest  of  all  harbors  on  the 
Pacific  coast. 

At  Port  Costa  our  train  was  conveyed 
on  an  immense  ferry-boat  across  the  Sac- 
ramento River,  at  its  entrance  into  the 
Bay  at  Benicia,  the  naval  station  of  San 
Francisco.  Here  the  river  mingles  its 
thick  brown  waters  with  the  clear  tides  of 
the  ocean,  after  passing  through  Suisun 
Bay,  a  broad  shallow,  with  a  marshy  bot- 
tom, where  the  thick  copper-colored  water 
idly  laps  upon  a  muddy  beach. 

Great  beds  of  last  year's  rushes  stand 
bristling  and  rustling  in  the  breeze,  stub- 
bornly waiting  for  a  i>ew  growth  to  sup- 
plant and  crowd  them  into  the  slime  be- 
low. As  we  advance  up  the  valley  of  the 
Sacramento,  it  presents  to  our  eyes  a  plain 
of  verdure,  broken  now  and  then  by  a 
small  pool,  in  which  wild  ducks  are  floating 
like  so  many  lilies,  as,  at  first  sight,  we 
thought  they  were.  Great  flocks  of  black- 
birds rise  from  the  fields  of  grain  and  sweep 
around  like  cloud  shadows,  softly  floating 
down  and  fading  from  our  sight,  as  they 
lose  themselves  again  and  again  in  the 
rich  verdure. 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


II 


Scenes  shift  as  we  go  on,  like  the  views 
in  a  vast  panorama.  The  great,  level  val- 
ley stretches  far  out  toward  the  east,  as 
our  route  takes  us  farther  from  the  river  ; 
and  over  it  we  see  white  sails  gleaming 
against  the  sky,  looking  as  if  they  were 
navigating  the  green  fields  which  lie  be- 
tween, rather  than  the  muddy  waters  of 
the  Sacramento  River  beyond. 

Now,  the  wheat  fields  give  place  to 
brown  marsh  lands,  upon  which  many 
herds  of  cattle  and  horses  are  seen.  I 
counted  thirty  horses  in  one  small  group, 
and  soon  passed  another,  at  least  four 
times  as  large.  Droves  of  black  pigs  are 
seen  at  intervals,  wallowing  and  fattening 
in  grass  as  high  as  their  shoulders.  There 
are  no  signs  of  feeding  or  care  for  them, 
any  more  than  for  the  cattle  and  horses. 

We  arrive  at  Suisun  at  six  o'clock  p.  m. 
It  seems  a  smart  little  town,  but  sits  upon 
a  dead  level  of  marsh  land,  and  must  be  a 
sufferer  from  occasional  inundations  of  the 
Sacramento  Valley.  Soon  after  leaving 
Suisun,  we  find  the  grain  fields  are  being 
ploughed  ;  buttercups  are  seen,  and  cultiva- 
tion is  going  on  everywhere  about  us.  But 
f      ~  „_^  ^re  grown  here.    As  I  look  about 


12 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


upon  either  side  of  our  way,  I  can  see  but 
three  groups  ;  these  are  all  eucalyptus 
trees,  which  cluster  about  and  shade  the 
farmhouses. 

Following  the  grain  fields,  comes  an- 
other ranch,  devoted  mainly  to  cattle  and 
sheep.  The  different  herds  and  flocks  are 
divided  by  rail  fences.  Ranch  follows 
ranch  upon  all  sides,  each  with  its  gener- 
ous group  of  farm-buildings,  all  painted 
white,  and  shaded  by  tall  eucalyptus  trees. 
They  stand  at  regular  distances  from  each 
other,  and  are  very  picturesque  in  the  pre- 
vailing greenness  of  this  portion  of  the 
valley. 

Next  comes  the  town  of  Elmira,  which 
I  note  as  a  **  goaty  place,"  from  the  fact 
that  these  are  the  first  goats  I  have  seen 
in  Northern  California.  A  white  church 
spire  rises  above  the  group  of  eucalyptus 
trees,  and  an  immense  windmill  stares  us 
in  the  face  as  we  pass  it,  like  a  rising  sun 
in  a  child's  picture  book.  Elmira  is  as 
yet  a  town  of  but  small  importance. 

Again  a  long  stretch  of  distance,  a  low 
level  of  vi\  id  green,  with  groups  of  home- 
steads, ranches  enclosed  by  rail  fences, 
wherein  horses,  cows,  and  black  pigs  roam 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


13 


v.. 


at  will,  make  up  this  by  no  means  unpleas- 
ing  section  of  the  panorama,  and  then  an- 
other change  of  scene.  A  vineyard,  with 
grape-leaves  as  large  as  the  palm  of  my 
hand,  showing  the  Sacramento  Valley  to  be 
the  banner  section,  as  far  as  warmth  and 
early  vegetation  is  concerned,  of  northern 
California. 

Four  teams  of  six  horses  each  are  next 
seen,  breaking  the  sods  of  a  large  area  for 
grain.  A  team  upon  each  of  the  four 
sides  has  enclosed  a  large  green  space  by 
a  wide  strip  of  broken  ground,  and  upon 
this  space  of  many  acres  are  corralled  by 
the  rich  brown  earth  a  beautiful  herd  of 
forty  or  fifty  cows,  red,  black,  white,  and 
speckled,  all  feeding  upon  the  rank  green 
grass  as  if  intent  upon  saving  it  from  the 
ploughshare.  West  of  us  is  a  long  line  of 
hills,  which  rise  higher  above  the  level  of 
the  valley  as  they  extend  northward,  and 
terminate  in  the  geyser  region,  or  rather 
merge  into  the  mountains  about  the  gey- 
sers, dividing  this  from  Napa  and  other 
small  valleys  round  about  it.  In  every 
other  direction  the  valley  meets  the  level 
horizon  without  a  single  elevation  to  break 
the  perfect  line,  fertile  and  beautiful. 


14 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


We  reach  Dixon  just  as  the  sun  appears 
to  rest  for  an  instant  upon  a  mountain 
level,  and  then  to  drop  below  it  in  a  flood 
of  its  own  golden  light.  Dixon  is  a  pretty 
place  of  low  frame  houses,  with  a  sprink- 
ling of  enterprising  brick  blocks,  enough 
to  give  this  valley  town  a  tone  of  smart- 
ness. We  stop  but  a  few  minutes  for  a 
passing  train  and  then  pass  on.  Again  are 
repeated  the  broad  fields  of  wheat  and 
barley,  the  detached  groups  of  white  farm- 
houses, some  large  and  tasteful,  the  beau- 
tiful herds  of  speckled  cattle,  the  ebony 
pigs  and  animated  horses  galloping  over 
the  wide  spaces,  —  and  all  included  in  one 
grand  comprehensive  view  as  I  turn  my 
eyes  over  the  broad  reaches  of  the  valley. 

Now  come  the  umber  tints  of  the  broken 
ground,  the  sear  stubble  of  last  year's 
grain  fields,  half-eaten  ricks  of  dry  grass, 
and  the  green  bronze  hues  of  the  sprout- 
ing barley  fields,  all  in  quick  and  pleasing 
succession.  No  prairie,  in  what  was  once 
our  West,  ever  equalled  in  thrift  and  love- 
liness the  beautiful  valleys  of  California. 

Passing  on  between  another  great  herd 
of  speckled  cattle  upon  one  side,  and  a 
multitude  of  horses,  mingled  with  calves 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


15 


of  all  ages,  from  six  months  to  two  years, 
upon  the  other,  we  next  arrive  at  a  decided 
change  in  the  scenes  about  us. 

We  reached  Davisville  after  crossing  a 
stream  of  considerable  size  flowing  toward 
the  Sacramento  River.  The  town  is  small ; 
one  village  church  in  the  midst  of  a  few 
small  houses  is  all  it  can  boast  of  architec- 
ture; it  sits  in  the  midst  of  a  large  tract  of 
the  valley  given  to  the  cultivation  of  fruit. 
Large  vineyards,  interspersed  with  or- 
chards of  various  fruits,  all  pink  and  white 
with  bloom,  brighten  and  gladden  us  like 
a  rosy  dawn  in  the  silver  twilight  of  the 
morning. 

After  leaving  the  vineyards  and  orchard 
lands  of  Davisville,  the  mountains  which 
had  bounded  our  vision  on  the  west  dis- 
appeared, and  the  low  level  everywhere 
began  to  grow  marshy.  Buttercups  cov- 
ered large  areas  like  a  "cloth  of  gold,"  and 
shallow  pools  of  water  grew  in  size  reflect- 
ing the  soft  hues  of  the  twilight,  while  the 
small  tufts  and  patches  of  green  which 
dotted  their  surfaces  looked  like  jewels 
in  their  brilliant  setting.  We  arrived  at 
the  city  of  Sacramento  in  the  evening,  and 
consequently  saw  but  little  of  its  surround- 


t$ 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


ings.  We  had  passed  over  ninety -two 
miles  of  our  journey  to  Oregon  by  day- 
light. During  the  following  night  we  trav- 
elled one  hundred  and  seventy-two  miles 
farther,  and  reached  the  head  of  the  lower 
Sacramento  Valley  at  the  town  of  Redding 
early  on  the  morning  of  April  6th. 

I  saw  glimpses  of  our  northward  jour- 
ney all  through  the  night.  We  passed  over 
level  spaces  and  made  occasional  stops  at 
towns  along  our  route,  but  I  could  see 
nothing  of  the  aspect  of  the  country. 

We  left  the  green  levels  behind  us  at 
Redding,  and  entered  upon  a  region  of  rug- 
ged and  uncultivated  nature.  I  looked 
from  my  window,  and  for  a  moment  im- 
agined myself  travelling  among  the  hills 
of  New  Hampshire,  so  like  to  them  was  the 
scene  about  us.  We  soon  came  once  more 
to  the  Sacramento  River.  Not  the  brown, 
muddy  Sacramento  of  the  previous  day, 
but  a  river  whose  water  is  white  and  pure 
as  crystal,  tinted  like  Niagara,  a  full,  swift 
stream,  and  feathered  from  quill  to  tip  like 
the  full,  fluff  plume  of  an  ostrich. 

We  began  to  ascend  its  wild  and  ro- 
mantic cafion  at  about  six  in  the  morning, 
and  the  beautiful  river  for  more  than  three 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


17 


hours  presented  to  our  delighted  admira- 
tion such  a  series  of  lovely  scenes  as  it  is 
seldom  one's  good  fortune  to  behold. 

They  followed  so  close,  each  complete  in 
itself,  alike  and  yet  so  distinctly  different, 
it  was  hard  to  distinguish  one  as  more 
delightfully  charming  than  another.  With 
but  two  or  three  exceptions,  where  for  a 
few  rods  the  river  took  a  level  sweep 
around  some  projecting  spur  of  the  hills, 
or  obstructing  boulder  in  its  course,  it  was 
a  swift  succession  of  sparkling  rapids  and 
foamy  white  cascades,  from  the  point 
where  we  entered  its  ravine  at  Middle 
Creek  to  where  our  road  turned  from  it  to 
ascend  the  Big  Bend,  which  trails  its  wind- 
ing way  up  a  height  of  530  feet  to  the  sta- 
tion of  McLoud. 

I  thought,  when  we  entered  the  caflon 
of  the  Sacramento  in  the  early  morning, 
that  I  would  make  a  note  of  every  lovely 
scene  presented  in  our  progress,  and  so 
continue  my  journal  of  our  journey  as  I 
began  it  on  leaving  San  Francisco.  For 
the  first  half  hour  there  seemed  to  be  lack- 
ing a  bit  of  color,  perhaps  an  autumn  tint, 
to  perfect  thi  loveliness  of  the  wild  beauty 
of  the  scenery,  and  I  pictured  the  Poca- 


i8 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


hontas  of  my  imagination,  with  her  painted 
bow  and  quiver,  and  her  wampum-fringed 
garments  of  many  hues,  standing  airily 
poised  upon  this  jutting  point,  or  with 
moccasined  feet  leaping  over  the  white 
cascade  from  yonder  green  but  moss-grown 
pine,  which  bridged  the  rushing  stream. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  I  came 
to  feel  and  know  that  this  is  no  sylvan 
brook  to  pose  and  "  laugh  for  our  delight," 
but  rather  that  the  wonderful  skill  and 
energy  of  man  had  opened  our  way  amid 
these  wild  and  sublime  solitv.des  of  Nature, 
and  disclosed  to  our  gaze  one  of  her  great 
throbbing  arteries,  the  fountain  of  whose 
bounding  and  exhaustless  flow  was  in  the 
mighty  heart  of  Shasta ;  that  this  bound- 
ing and  resistless  flow  was  for  the  blessing 
of  the  happy  sunlit  valleys  which  surround 
his  feet,  causing  them  to  bring  forth  bud 
and  bloom  and  verdure  and  abundant 
fruitage. 

At  8.30  in  the  morning  we  passed  the 
Lower  Soda  Springs.  There  is  one  large 
hotel  and  several  cottages  for  the  conven- 
ience of  those  who  come  for  the  benefit  to 
be  derived  from  drinking  the  waters.  A 
few  rods  farther  on,  and  I  caught  a  distant 


*        ti 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


19 


flitting  sight  of  Shasta,  and  I  clapped  my 
hands  and  called  out,  "  Shasta  !  Shasta  ! " 
that  all  might  share  in  my  delight.  The 
town  of  Dunmuir  stands  upon  a  small  flat 
area,  and  has  several  quite  extensive  brick 
repair  shops  belonging  to  the  California 
and  Oregon  Railroad,  with  a  dozen  or  per- 
haps more  small  dwellings  clustered  about, 
a  grocery,  a  hotel,  and  the  "  Star  "  printing- 
office,  —  quite  a  good  show  for  a  mountain 
town  2271  feet  above  the  level  of  San 
Francisco,  remote  from  all  centres  of  en- 
terprise, connected  only  with  the  outside 
world  by  the  railroad  and  an  old  discon- 
tinued stage  route. 

Still  the  cascades  swept  down  in  dancing 
curves  and  showers  of  white  foam,  and  still 
we  toiled  on,  close  upon  the  way  whence 
they  came. 

At  Dunmuir  we  exchanged  our  engine 
for  two  that  were  both  larger  and  better 
equipped  for  the  labor  which  was  before 
them.  Our  road  is  cut  into  the  sides  of 
banks  and  hills  and  mountains,  all  the  way, 
as  close  to  the  edge  of  the  stream  as  it  is 
possible  to  go,  and  sometimes  overhanging 
it  upon  bridge  and  trestle. 

I  turned  for  a  backward  look  and  saw 


^^^^^^^L 


30 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


the  river  tumbling  and  racing  down  a  direct 
course  of  two  or  three  hundred  rods,  be- 
tween tall  dark  firs  and  pines,  a  narrow 
strip  of  the  blue  sky  above,  and  the  water 
white  and  full  of  life-like  motion  below, 
flashing  and  sparkling  in  the  yellow  sun- 
light, which  darted  down  in  flecks  and 
streamers  through  the  solemn  shadows  of 
the  trees.  It  was  a  scene  of  beauty,  wild 
and  fascinating,  which  it  will  long  be  a  de- 
light to  us  to  recall ;  so  satisfying  to  our 
anticipations  of  what  this  journey  would  re- 
veal to  us  that  we  both  at  once  exclaimed, 
"  Now  I  wish  that  G.  and  M.  and  P.  were 
with  us  to  share  and  enjoy  this  wonderful 
and  delightful  journey." 

We  came  immediately  after  to  where  the 
river  seemed  to  pause  in  its  wild  course,  at 
the  foot  of  a  great  moss-covered  boulder, 
from  behind  which  it  swept  in  one  strong, 
graceful  curve,  its  color  bright  as  liquid 
emerald.  Rounding  the  corresponding 
curve  along  the  bank,  we  came  full  upon 
Mossbrae  Falls. 

Unnumbered  small  streams  of  ice-cold 
water,  from  the  frozen  caverns  of  Mount 
Shasta,  burst  at  once  from  cushions  of 
deep  green  moss,  the  growth  of  ages,  which 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


21 


lay  piled  upon  the  top  of  a  high  precipice 
overhanging  a  lovely  pool  below.  They 
came  tumbling  and  foaming  down  its  moss- 
grown  side  with  sylvan  glee  and  frantic 
leaps ;  now  white  as  snow,  and  when  the 
sunlight  caught  and  seemed  to  hold  it  in  a 
golden  net,  it  flashed  and  shone  as  irides- 
cent as  the  bow  of  heaven.  Some  shot 
down  in  gauzy  veils,  and  some,  like  minia- 
ture Niagaras,  poured  down  their  little  vol- 
umes to  the  pool  and  rose  in  bubbling  haste 
to  join  the  stream  below. 

The  music  of  all  these  sparkling  rills 
was  like  the  chiming  of  distant  bells.  Why 
were  they  not  sweet  songs  of  joy  ?  A  wild 
rejoicing  of  the  long  imprisoned  waters  for 
their  advent  to  the  light  of  day,  the  soft 
airs  of  heaven,  the  freshness  and  beauty  of 
earth,  the  strength  of  the  resistless  river, 
and  the  boundless  life  of  the  mighty  ocean, 
—  a  lovelier  scene  can  hardly  be  imagined. 
Were  I  an  artist,  I  would  never  again  touch 
paint  to  canvas  until  I  could  stand  by  Moss- 
brae  Falls.  Another  bend  of  the  river,  and 
we  cp'ss  it  upon  a  fine  arched  bridge  of 
stone,  when  our  porter  points  to  a  high  cliff 
of  stone  and  gravel  on  our  right,  and  gravely 
tells  us,  there  lies  our  way. 


•■;<■ 


?2 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA, 


The  river  winds  about  so  abruptly  here, 
forming  two  right  angles  between  its  rocky 
walls,  in  the  distance  of  not  more  than  a 
hundred  feet,  that  I  saw  no  way  of  egress 
from  the  labyrinth  in  which  we  seemed  to 
be.  Cliffs  to  the  right  and  left,  and  high 
walls  in  front  of  and  behind  us,  seemed 
to  shut  us  completely  in  from  outward 
space.  Still  the  river  kept  us  company, 
and  where  that  went,  thence  we  had  come, 
and  whence  that  came,  there  we  must  find 
our  way. 

We  had  passed  through  many  spurs  of 
the  mountains,  which  had  barred  our  pro- 
gress, by  tunnels ;  some  short,  and  some 
quite  long  ;  always  to  be  welcomed  from 
their  darkness  by  the  glad  surprise  of  the 
river,  which  seemed  to  flow  the  swifter  for 
our  coming.  We  crossed  and  recrossed  it 
eighteen  times  upon  picturesque  bridges 
and  trestles,  some  arched,  some  of  stone, 
and  some  of  timbers,  rustic  and  airy,  as  the 
places  might  require.  We  were  near  to  its 
icy  sources  and  its  volume  of  water  was 
sensibly  diminished,  but  the  picturesque- 
ness  was  a  constantly  increasing  character- 
istic from  the  moment  when  we  entered 
the  mountain  cafion  until  we  were  obliged 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


23 


to  turn  from  its  ever-varying  and  fascinat- 
ing course. 

Looking  up  the  ravine  as  we  left  the 
river  upon  our  left,  we  caught  glimpses  of 
the  wild  rocky  places  where  the  water 
springs  to  light  from  hidden  fountains ; 
we  realized  that  we  were  peeping  into  the 
primeval  solitudes  of  nature.  Yet  not  a 
solitude,  but  the  wild  and  lovely  haunt  of 
all  wild  creatures  which  roam  and  rejoice 
in  the  crags  and  fastnesses  of  these  lofty 
pyramids  of  Nature ;  haunts,  like  Caledo- 
nia's, 

"  Stem  and  wild, 
Fit  nurse  for  a  poetic  child." 

Making  a  sharp  turn  in  our  course,  we 
entered  among  the  pine  forests  and  began 
our  ascent  to  McLoud.  Still  we  were  fol- 
lowing the  course  of  the  river,  but  upon 
a  rising  track  and  with  its  current.  We 
were  going  toward  the  south,  but  soon 
made  another  complete  tack  to  the  north, 
and  again  ran  parallel  with  and  against 
the  flow  of  the  river,  having  "boxed"  both 
it  and  the  compass,  in  passing  over  the 
Big  Bend  of  the  railway.  Looking  down 
upon  our  track,  we  saw  the  river  far  below 
where  we  had  crossed  and  recrossed  it  so 


.  '-K 


24 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


many  times  in  its  sinuous  course,  and,  upon 
a  terrace  intervening  between  it  and  our 
present  position,  the  long  stretch  of  rail 
parallel  to  it  and  us,  which  marked  the 
passage  of  our  first  ascent.  Making  our 
third  tack  upon  the  mountain,  we  took  a 
southeasterly  course  and  came  upon  a  level 
area,  at  an  altitude  of  3400  feet,  called 
St.-awberry  Valley.  Here  was  the  town  or 
station  of  McLoud.  Strawberry  Valley  is 
a  cleared  area  of  many  acres  —  taking  its 
name  from  the  abundance  of  wild  strawber- 
ries which  in  their  season  are  found  there. 
McLoud  is  a  lumbermen's  settlement,  as 
the  gieat  quantities  of  sawed  lumber  and 
wood  attest.  There  were  f  teen  or  twenty 
small,  box-like  houses,  shanties,  and  huts, 
the  abodes  of  lumbermen.  None  were  in 
camp,  however,  as  for  some  reason  busi- 
ness seemed  suspended  and  the  camp  de- 
serted. From  Strawberry  Valley  we  still 
ascended,  catching  now  and  then  a  sight 
of  great  Shasta,  which  was  so  fleeting  and 
phantom-like  that  we  could  hardly  restrain 
our  impatience  until  we  should  come  in  full 
view  of  its  regal  majesty. 

Crossing  a  very  high  and  fragile-'ooking 
trestle,  which  bridged  a  deep  gulch  between 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


25 


two  heights,  we  came  to  a  point  where  a 
momentary  view  of  Shasta's  southern  side 
was  presented  to  our  unobstructed  sight. 
Upon  our  left  was  a  long  range  of  snowy- 
mountains  rising  9000  feet  above  the  sea, 
known  as  Scott  Mountains.  Farther  back 
toward  the  southwest  were  the  strangely 
beautiful  Castle  Rocks.  We  saw  these 
upon  our  left  when  we  passed  the  Lower 
Soda  Springs  ;  at  the  same  time  we  got  our 
first  sight  of  Mount  Shasta,  and  the  greater 
wonder  eclipsed  the  lesser. 

Castle  Rocks  are  a  weird  and  fantastic 
combination  of  peaks,  turrets,  pinnacles, 
and  towers,  whose  black  and  jagged  sur- 
faces assume  all  sorts  of  fantastic  shapes, 
and  give  play  to  fancies  of  the  wildest 
imaginings.  There  is  little  chance  for  won- 
der that  the  Indians  peopled  these  inacces- 
sible fastnesses  with  mountain  sprites  and 
dire  hobgoblins. 

Across  the  airy  trestle,  and  up  the  farther 
height,  we  came  upon  a  broad  and  fertile 
plateau,  over  which  we  sped  between  lofty 
pines  and  firs,  intently  watching  for  every 
glimpse  that  came  to  us  of  the  great  White 
Shasta.  Here  we  came  to  Acme,  a  little 
town  upon  the  top  of  the  mountain  up  which 


■:''if 


26 


PICTURESQUE   ALASKA. 


we  had  been  winding  our  way  for  more 
than  an  hour.  We  found  at  Acme  several 
large  sawmills  in  active  operation,  many 
very  good  board  houses,  and  immense  quan- 
tities of  lumber  of  all  descriptions  piled 
promiscuously  about  on  every  side,  await- 
ing shipment  to  southern  ports  for  the 
building  up  of  future  cities. 

Passing  on  and  out  from  the  town  of  the 
lumbermen,  we  arrived  at  Sissons,  at  10.30 
A.  M.,  and  left  our  train  for  breakfast  at  the 
station.  Sissons  is  the  town,  the  hotel, 
and  the  station  ^  from  which  the  ascent  of 
Shasta  is  made. 

And  here  Mount  Shasta  stood  in  solemn 
majesty  before  us,  not  more  than  twelve 
miles  distant.  But  not  the  Shasta  I  had 
longed  so  much  to  see.  This  was  Mount 
Shasta  with  broad  shoulders,  like  great 
white  wings  extending  far  out  upon  either 
side.  It  looks  high  and  massive  and 
grand,  but  not  the  Mount  Shasta  before 
whose  sublime  majesty  I  had  expected  to 
bow  down  in  reverence,  tremulous  with 
awe  and  admiration. 

At  the  left  of  the  hotel,  and  apparently 
quite  near  to  it,  rises  Muir  Mountain,  or 

^  All  in  one  and  beneath  one  broad  roof. 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


27 


Black  Butte,  as  the  natives  call  it,  6500 
feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  3000  feet 
above  Strawberry  Valley.  It  is  a  reddish- 
brown  volcanic  mountain,  very  peaked  and 
extremely  interesting  in  its  appearance. 
It  rises  immediately  from  the  level  of  the 
valley,  and  looks,  as  it  really  is,  of  much 
more  recent  birth  than  other  mountains 
round  about  it.  It  is  said  that  "  Shasta 
was  cold  and  dead  many  an  age  before  the 
fires  in  Muir  Mountain  were  kindled."  It 
is  to  all  appearances  utterly  naked,  not  a 
sign  of  vegetable  growth  exists  upon  it, 
from  base  to  topmost  peak. 

Castle  Mountains,  a  continuation  of 
Castle  Rocks,  are  to  the  west  of  Sissons 
and  in  full  view,  a  long,  high  chain  of 
snowy  peaks  and  pinnacles.  Near  them 
rises  the  lofty  triple  summit  of  Trin.ty 
Mountain. 

The  situation  of  Sissons  is  peculiarly  in- 
teresting to  us  for  its  affording  us,  in  the 
hour  which  we  spent  after  breakfast  in 
walking  up  and  down  the  wide  and  long 
plank  walk  before  the  hotel,  an  opportunity 
of  observing  its  grand  and  magnificent 
mountain  scenery,  —  gigantic  Shasta  in 
front  of  us,  and  Muir,  Scott,  Castle,  and 
Trinity  standing  so  near  behind  us. 


28 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


As  we  left  Sissons  we  had  Mount  Shasta 
on  our  right  and  all  the  time  in  full  view. 
We  marked  with  wonder  and  admiration  its 
variety  of  shapes,  as  revealed  by  our  pro- 
gress. When  just  south  of  it,  the  moun- 
tain stands  like  a  massive  pyramid  with  a 
sharp  spur  upon  its  left ;  a  little  beyond, 
and  it  is  winged,  as  we  saw  it  at  Sissons ; 
then  with  clustered  peaks ;  soon  the  peaks 
are  seen  in  line,  and  the  summit  is  a  per- 
fect level,  cutting  the  blue  sky  like  a 
mighty  crystal  wedge. 

We  arrive  at  Edgewood,  situated  in 
Shasta  Valley,  seventeen  miles  from  Sis- 
sons and  four  hundred  feet  lower,  where 
are  a  few  two-story  frame  buildings  and  a 
small  church.  Fields  are  cleared  and  cul- 
tivated, but  the  land  is  very  stony.  Where 
the  stones  lie  undisturbed  in  a  natural 
state,  the  ground  is  literally  covered  with 
them.  They  are  all  small,  none  of  them 
more  than  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  most  of 
them  very  much  smaller.  They  lie  entirely 
free  upon  the  surface  of  the  soil,  which  is 
good,  and  look  as  if  they  had  fallen  in  a 
recent  shower,  as  hail-stones  lie  thick  and 
loose  after  a  sudden  storm.  The  space 
covered  by  these  stones  is  circumscribed, 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


29 


neither  far  nor  wide ;  they  are  volcanic, 
and  some  one  said  they  had  lain  where  we 
saw  them  ever  since  the  Black  Butte  burst 
asunder  the  bonds  of  Earth  and  arose  to 
take  his  place  among  her  mighty  giants. 

Next  appeared  beside  our  route  an  old- 
fashioned  one -story  cottage,  unpainted, 
save  by  storm  and  wind,  with  shed,  barn, 
and  cow  yards,  just  like  those  we  often  see 
nestled  snugly  among  the  hills  of  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire.  Two  or  three  acres 
of  cultivated  land  about  it,  with  all  of  Shasta 
Valley  for  pasturage,  make  a  homestead  in 
this  far  northwest  which  reminds  us  for- 
cibly of  the  rural  homes  among  our  New 
England  hills.  Still  farther  on  in  the  val- 
ley we  came  to  a  place  on  our  way  where 
Mount  Shasta,  the  Shasta  of  our  imagina- 
tion, that  which  we  have  all  the  while  been 
hoping  to  see,  stood  full  before  us.  Its 
awful  height,  its  immaculate  whiteness,  its 
strength  and  immeasurable  magnitude,  and 
the  broad,  far  stretch  of  its  massive  base, 
—  all  impressed  me  with  a  power  equalled 
only  by  the  awful  presence  of  El  Capitan. 

That  Mount  Shasta  is  sublime  and  ma- 
jestic, far  above  ail  others  that  I  have  seen 
in  California,  I  feel  and  know.     What  may 


30 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


be  the  power  of  the  lofty  mountains  of  this 
far  northwest  to  supplant  Shasta  as  the 
mightiest  of  all,  I  cannot  tell.  I  wish  I 
could  express  how  it  appears  to  me.  It 
looks  so  pure,  so  free,  so  silent,  —  so  of  the 
world  and  yet  so  far  above  it.  The  shadows 
lying  upon  the  nearer  mountains  and  hills 
are  very  beautiful,  but  all  things  pale  and 
sink  in  the  contemplation  of  incomparable 
Mount  Shasta. 

Still  descending  gradually,  we  left  the 
fertile  slopes  and  pasture  lands  of  Shasta 
Valley  and  came  to  a  large,  full  river,  the 
second  in  size  in  California.  Klamath 
River  flows  down  from  Klamath  Lakes,  and 
takes  in  its  course  the  waters  of  three 
other  rivers,  which  bear  the  names  of  the 
mountains  from  whence  they  flow,  Shasta, 
Scott,  and  Trinity. 

We  crossed  the  Klamath  near  the  town 
of  Hornbook,  and  crossing  also  the  narrow 
Klamath  valley  at  right  angles,  we  could 
see  but  little  of  it  until  we  began  our  ascent 
upon  the  northern  side.  I  then  looked 
down  the  long  stretch  of  the  river  vale  and 
saw  the  broad  Klamath  flowing  placidly 
down  between  the  green  sides  of  the  valley, 
which  almost  seemed  the  river's  banks,  sq 


MOUNT  SHASTA. 


31 


rear  t'ley  approached  it  upon  either  side. 
So  great  was  the  contrast  between  the 
Klamath,  broad  and  beautiful  as  it  was, 
and  the  wild  and  exciting  dash  of  the  Sac- 
ramento, that  it  seemed  like  giving  milk 
for  wine,  and  I  could  not  "enthuse"  over 
it  after  drinking  so  freely  of  the  wine  of 
admiration  from  the  streams  which  flow 
from  the  vaulted  caverns  that  underlie  the 
icy  domes  of  Mount  Shasta. 

The  ascent  of  Siskiyou  Mountain  lay 
before  us.  We  toiled  slowly  up  the  steep 
grade,  our  engines  panting  like  living  crea- 
tures under  the  strain  of  our  heavy  train. 
We  still  could  see  Mount  Shasta's  tower- 
ing height,  the  snowy  pinnacles  of  Castle 
Mountains,  and  the  shining  spires  of  Trin- 
ity, while  east  of  us  and  high  above  loomed 
the  strange  volcanic  pillar  known  as  Pilot 
Rock.  It  stands  like  an  immense  granite 
tower,  60CX)  feet  in  height,  upon  the  bound- 
ary line  between  California  and  Oregon  ; 
and  it  looks  down  from  either  side  of  the 
Cascade  Range  upon  wondrous  scenes  of 
mountains,  vales,  and  rivers.  Its  promi- 
nence made  it  one  of  the  most  valuable 
watch-towers  during  our  Indian  wars  in  the 
early  settlement  of  Oregon  and  California. 


32 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


Coles  is  the  last  town  upon  our  route  in 
California. 

The  fir-trees  of  Oregon  have  been  seen 
mingled  with  the  pines  all  along  the  Shasta 
region.  At  Coles  they  became  quite  con- 
spicuous. They  are  tall  and  stately  trees, 
not  spreading  in  their  growth,  but  compact 
and  shapely,  with  bark  the  color  of  that  of 
the  Scotch  pine.  The  grade  is  still  more 
steep  and  our  progress  is  more  labored  as 
we  slowly  move  up  between  deep  cuts  of 
gravel  and  flinty  stone.  We  are  following 
in  the  same  rough  pathway  which  General 
Fremont  marked  through  this  wild  country 
of  trackless  forests  before  the  days  of  civil 
engineering.  It  is  very  interesting  to  think 
of  him  and  his  toilsome  marches  over  these 
wild  mountains  and  through  these  great 
hidden  valleys,  while  we  are  reposing  com- 
fortably in  our  palace  cars  and  taking  our 
"  ease  in  our  own  hired  houses."  This 
journey  so  full  of  peril  to  him,  which  he 
travelled  in  weakness  and  with  fear  of  hos- 
tile Indian,  so  little  time  ago,  is  to-day  for 
us  filled  with  delight,  security,  and  comfort. 

For  a  novelty,  we  reached  a  point  not 
long  after  lunch  where  the  way,  though 
wild,  was  uninteresting  ;  at  least  there  was 


THE  PASS  OF  SISKIYOU. 


33 


nothing  to  excite  our  wonder  or  admiration. 
I  observed  a  well-travelled  highway,  leading 
somewhere,  —  I  did,  however,  "  wonder  " 
where  it  led.  We  are  never  in  all  this 
broad  land  beyond  the  region  of  some  sign 
of  civilization.  The  highway,  I  am  told, 
was  the  old  stage  road  to  Oregon  before 
the  completion  of  the  railroad  over  the  Sis- 
kiyou mountains. 

This  Oregon  and  California  Railroad  is 
a  continued  surprise  to  us.  Such  feats  of 
engineering  as  have  been  accomplished  are 
really  marvellous.  The  old  stage  road  over 
Siskiyou  measured  the  distance  of  ten 
miles.  The  railroad  makes  the  passage  of 
the  mountain,  connecting  the  termini  of 
the  two  roads,  by  a  series  of  tacks  and 
zigzags  which  measure  eighteen  miles  in 
its  ascent  and  descent  of  steep  mountain 
grades.  Again  and  for  the  last  time  we 
see  gigantic  Shasta.  It  towers  fa.r  above 
all  intervening  objects,  an  immense  billow 
of  white  in  the  southern  sky. 

One  more  broad  curve  and  we  have  at- 
tained the  summit  of  Siskiyou.  I  see  the 
two  powerful  engines  belching  great  clouds 
of  smoke  and  marching  sturdily  upward, 
subduing  height   and  distance  with  their 


34 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


determined  strokes.  I  look  backward  and 
mark  the  line  of  our  road  as  it  lies  plainly 
visible  in  every  part  below  us.  The  whole 
side  of  the  mountain  is  terraced  by  five  long 
lines  of  track,  doubling  back  and  forth  and 
winding  upward  to  its  top. 

We  crossed  a  very  high  trestle  over  a 
deep  and  dark  gulf,  and  soon  entered  a 
tunnel  under  the  peak  of  Siskiyou  Mount, 
33(X)  feet  long.  From  the  darkness  of  the 
mountain,  which  was  so  still  and  solemn 
as  to  oppress  us,  we  slowly  came  into  the 
light  of  the  outer  world,  glad  to  be  disen- 
tombed. We  stopped  at  Siskiyou  at  an 
elevation  of  4135  feet.  The  fir-trees  all 
about  the  station  are  very  tall ;  many  of 
them  have  been  blasted  by  fire,  and  lum- 
bermen have  done  their  part  to  add  to  the 
extravagant  waste  of  these  stately  forests. 
The  town  consists  of  a  small  station,  a 
freight-house,  one  small  dwelling,  and  a 
woodpile.  There  is  also  another  frame 
building  which  may  be  mansion  or  work- 
shop. All  are  njv/  and  well  painted.  Evi- 
dently the  town  belongs  to  the  railroad 
corporation. 

From  Siskiyou,  we  begin  our  winding 
descent  on  the  northern  side  of  the  moun- 


THE  PASS  OF  SISKIYOU. 


35 


tain.  We  pass  between  a  heavy  p'-owth  of 
the  Oregon  firs,  tali,  light,  and  graceful  in 
their  tapering  height,  straight  as  an  Indian 
arrow  but  seared  and  blackened  by  forest 
fires.  We  double  on  our  track,  and  look- 
ing southward  far  down  in  the  deep  valley 
we  behold  the  very  road  upon  which  we 
came  before  we  began  our  zigzag  ascent 
of  the  mountain. 

We  turn  northward  again,  and  now  see 
another  winding  road,  far  down  upon  the 
opposite  side  of  Siskiyou.  It  weaves  back 
and  forth,  lower  and  lower,  —  each  terrace 
cut  by  a  deep  wood-grown  gulch,  which 
reaches  from  the  top  of  the  mountain 
straight  down  to  its  base,  in  the  beautiful 
valley  below. 

Every  terrace  has  its  airy,  web-like  tres- 
tle, one  below  another,  spanning  the  fear- 
ful gulch  beneath.  These  structures  look 
strangely  frail  and  insecure,  as  we  realize 
that  over  them  all  our  train  must  pass 
before  we  reach  the  great  basin-like  val- 
ley which  lies  so  far  below  us.  We  pro- 
ceeded more  slowly  in  our  descent,  as  the 
danger  of  accidents  is  greater  than  in  the 
ascent. 

The  valley  of  Rogue  River  lies  below  us 


36 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


like  a  great  amphitheatre  of  woodland,  vale, 
and  river.  The  view  of  it  from  the  top  of 
the  mountain  was  extremely  beautiful. 
High  mountains  rose  all  around  it,  lifting 
their  varying  shapes  against  the  sky ; 
many  of  them  r.re  white  with  snow  ;  some 
peaked  and  pinnacled,  and  some  like  castle 
walls,  with  domes  and  turrets.  Within 
these  lay  the  softer  lines  of  foot-hills, 
which  enclosed  the  valley  like  the  ornate 
rim  o{  the  deep  and  lovely  basin.  Our 
point  of  observation  was  on  a  level  with 
the  snow  line  on  the  mountains  opposite, 
which  are  a  part  of  the  great  Cascatle  range 
of  Oregon. 

As  we  descended,  now  east  then  west, 
over  trestles  and  through  tunnels,  the  great 
basin  ot  the  valley  became  broken  into  hills 
and  depressions,  forming  an  undulating 
surface  over  all  the  area,  which  had  looked 
as  level  and  soft  as  a  shaven  lawn  ;  and  the 
tall  pine  and  fir  treeS;  v/hich  had  looked  to 
us  like  bristling  blades  of  grass,  began  to 
assume  their  proper  stature,  rising  two  and 
three  hundred  feet  above  the  soil  which 
nourished  them. 

Coming  nearer  to  the  level  of  the  valley, 
our  train  halted  at  a  water  tank.     We  have 


^j^ 


THE  PASS  OF  SISKIYOU. 


37 


a  sense  of  relief  that  the  fearful  tension 
upon  our  nerves  is  almost  over  for  the  day, 
and  a  feeling  of  thankfulness  and  grateful 
appreciation  toward  our  two  faithful  en- 
gines comes  into  my  heart,  which  I  almost 
long  in  some  occult  way  to  convey  to  them. 
They  have  proved  so  responsive  to  com- 
mand, so  v;orthy  of  trust  and  confidence^ 
that  they  almost  seem  to  be  sentient  crea- 
tures. I  take  a  real  pleasure  in  seeing 
them  filled  to  overflowing  with  the  pure 
sweet  water  which  flows  so  musically  down 
in  little  rills  and  miniature  cascades  froia 
the  mountain  spring  above  us. 

A  little  below  the  fountain  comes  a  wide 
area  of  several  acres,  where  the  waste 
stones  and  gravel  of  the  excavated  ledges 
and  tunnels  on  the  road  above  have  been 
dumped  by  the  laborers  into  an  ugly  gulch. 
On  this  area  is  Chinatown.  The  tents  of 
the  Chinamen,  without  whom  these  feats 
of  engineering  would  never  have  been  reaL 
izcd,  stand  close  and  thick,  like  the  w'g- 
wams  of  an  Indian  village.  Behind  them, 
on  the  edge  of  their  acres,  overlooking  the 
ravine,  are  all  the  various  implements  of 
their  labor,  save  the  broken  and  dismantled 
ones,  of  all  descriptions,  which  lie  heaped 


38 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


in  indiscriminate  confusion  at  the  bottom 
of  the  ravine. 

We  left  the  rugged  heights  of  the  moun- 
tains behind  us,  and  came  down  into  the 
lovely  fertile  valley  of  Rogue  River,  among 
green  pastures  and  cultivated  fields  and 
budding  trees. 

Soon  appear  cosy  homes  in  the  midst 
of  gardens  and  blooming  orchards  of 
peaches,  apricots,  and  cherries.  Cows  are 
feeding  on  the  green  hill-slopes,  and  live- 
oaks  are  standing  thick  about  us  ;  but  all 
are  destitute  of  foliage  save  that  of  the 
"  accursed  mistletoe,"  which  hangs  in  heavy 
clusters  so  thick  upon  the  leafless  boughs 
that  at  a  first  glance  they  seem  io  be 
clothed  in  their  natural  foliage.  Poor  trees, 
I  never  see  them  thus  without  a  feeling  of 
sad  and  regretful  sympathy  ;  for  the  mistle- 
toe is  but  a  deadly  vimpire,  and  the  tree 
it  fastens  upon  is  doomed  to  slow  decay. 

Upon  the  eastern  side  of  the  valley  flows 
Ashland  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Rogue  River. 
Although  some  distance  from  our  train,  we 
know  its  course  by  the  pretty  homesteads 
upon  its  banks.  They  stand  all  along  the 
stream,  among  fields  of  grain,  some  green 
and  others  newly  sown.     In  every  instance 


THE  PASS  OF  SISKIYOU. 


39 


there  was  a  large  peach  orchard  near  by, 
a  solid  mass  of  deep  lich  bloom.  Ashland 
is  a  pretty  town  in  a  fine  farming  district. 
The  fertile  uplands  across  the  river  reach 
far  up  on  the  green  foot-hills,  with  grazing 
lands  beyond  extending  to  their  wooded 
top. 

Farm  follows  farm,  bearing  unmistakable 
evidence  of  the  thrift  and  prosperity  of 
their  owners,  until  we  arrive  at  Medford. 
It  is  the  second  town  at  which  we  have 
stopped  in  Oregon,  and  here  we  dine  at  the 
station.  There  is  a  small  brick  church 
surrounded  by  a  neat  and  pretty  village, 
all  new  and  evidently  the  railroad  centre 
of  Rogue  River  valley. 

As  we  leave  Medford  behind  us  in  the 
early  twilight,  we  pass  a  wood-crowned 
eminence  close  upon  our  right,  and  look 
ouf  "■  on  a  broad  open  spane.  The  wooded 
?'.'  v'tich  we  had  passed  seemed  the 
i\c  J*  .r  terminus  of  the  line  of  white  hills 
which  hi  hemmed  in  the  valley  on  the 
east,  and  passing  through  the  break  made 
by  the  river  in  their  continuity,  Wc  could 
look  back  of  them  toward  the  high  mcim- 
tains  of  the  lower  Cascades. 

We  saw  Mount  Pitt;  it  rose,  a  perfect 


40 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


pyramid  in  form  and  immaculate  as  a  white 
drift,  9000  feet  in  height.  About  one  third 
of  its  height  from  the  base  was  covered  by 
a  growth  of  evergreens,  so  scattered,  how- 
ever, that  they  only  thinly  veiled  the  snowy 
surfaces  benca^h  them.  The  rest  of  the 
mountain  had  l  >  '  ^ot  or  shadow  to  mar 
its  whiteness. 

Exactly  east  of  us,  and  much  nearer, 
stood  a  bare,  truncated  mountain  much 
resembling  Round  Mountain  in  Mexico, 
Upon  its  top  there  must  be  a  beautiful 
table-land,  doubtless  the  feeding  ground  of 
the  vast  herds  of  wild  mountain  sheep 
which  once  ?bounded  here. 

Immediately  beyond  this,  and  still  nearer 
to  us,  rises  Table  Rock.  This  is  indeed  a 
•'  Round  Table  "  about  which  the  spirits  of 
earth  and  air  might  hold  high  revels.  It 
rises  gradually  in  a  circular  form  for  sev- 
eral hundred  feet,  from  which  height  there 
shoots  up  a  solid  perpendicular  wall  of  dark 
gray  stone  for  many  hundred  feet  more, 
without  a  visible  break  or  seam  in  any 
part  of  it.  There  are  portions  of  it  which 
are  grooved  like  gigantic  fluted  columns, 
adding  much  to  the  harmonious  symmetry 
of  the  massive  mountain  table.     It  is  quite 


iii-'ruA-A'Sti..  Steiii 


THE  PASS  OF  SISKIYOU. 


41 


destitute  of  trees  or  verdure  of  any  kind 
and  about  half  a  mile  in  diameter. 

The  river  broadens  beyond  Table  Rock 
into  a  mirror-like  lake,  which  beautifully 
reflects  the  mountains  and  the  skies  above 
them  ;  then  it  contracts,  and  flows  in  a 
deep  still  current  along  the  base  of  a  high, 
thickly  wooded  range  of  hills,  which  grow 
more  dense  and  sombre  as  the  twilight 
deepens.  The  valley  narrows  rapidl}'  Hills 
meet  hills  upon  either  side,  all  darkly  jov- 
ered  with  the  tall  firs  of  Oregon,  and  parted 
only  by  the  swiftly  flowing  river  and  the 
narrow  ledge  upon  which  our  train  glides 
on  into  the  darkness  of  the  night. 

This  is  Grant's  Pass,  a  fascinating  place 
in  the  deep  twilight.  What  must  it  be  in 
the  clear  light  of  day  .•*  Our  fancies  can 
well  imagine  the  playful  shadows  and  the 
flecks  of  sunlight  which  darken  and  illu- 
mine the  beautiful  river,  whose  rapid  flow 
through  the  narrow  pass  breaks  into  lovely 
cascades  white  as  the  icy  fountains  whence 
they  came.  Through  Grant's  Pass  we 
passed  over,  during  the  night  of  the  6th, 
about  two  hundred  miles  of  our  journey. 

April  7.  We  awoke  in  the  valley  of  the 
Willamette   River.     It  is  a  fertile   grain- 


.M^^tfeiltaaiHiiAitrtiteMiB^^ 


42 


PIC7VKESQUE  ALASKA. 


bearing  region,  much  resembling  the  Sac- 
ramento valley,  and  is  fast  changing  from 
pasturage  to  wheat  cultivation.  There  are 
still  widely  scattered  flocks  of  sheep  and 
herds  of  cattle,  but  they  are  not  frequent 
enough  to  give  one  the  idea  of  large  num- 
bers. 

Mount  Hood  appears  distinct  and  rosy  in 
the  morning  light.  To  the  southeast,  in  a 
long  dark  mountain  chain  of  the  Cascade 
Range,  is  another  fine  pyramidal  mountain, 
rising  high  above  its  fellows.  Its  great 
height  indicates  that  it  is  covered  with 
snow,  although  it  now  looks  dark  and 
frowning  as  it  towers  over  lesser  heights, 
all  whit  'n  the  morning  sunlight.  Doubt- 
less it  is  Mount  Jefferson,  so  .situated  as 
not  to  give  us  a  direct  reflection  of  the 
sun. 

Mount  Hood  is  white  as  marble ;  and 
high  above  the  clouds  and  massive  ;  but  it 
fails  to  give  me  that  impression  of  entire 
completeness,  that  breadth  and  height  of 
sublimity  and  awful  majesty,  which  seems 
to  be  incorporate  in  Mount  Shasta,  going 
out  from  it  to  the  beholder  with  an  abun- 
dant sense  of  satisfaction.  When  I  took 
my  last  look  at  Mount  Shasta,  I  felt  like 


:SSm^i 


THE  PASS  OF  SISKIYOU. 


43 


"Simeon"  ;  I  had  seen  its  glory,  and  felt 
the  fulness  of  its  majesty. 

We  passed  through  the  city  of  Salem, 
stopping  but  a  few  minutes,  and  went  down 
the  valley  until  we  came  to  the  falls  of  the 
river  at  Oregon  City.  The  "Fall"  of  the 
full  stream  over  the  heaped  and  ledgy 
rocks,  which  here  form  a  precipice  of  per- 
haps twenty  feet,  is  a  very  pretty  feature  in 
the  somewhat  monotonous  flow  of  the  river. 
These  Falls  are  situated  about  fifteen  miles 
above  Portland,  and  Oregon  City  came  very 
near  to  being  the  most  important  city  of 
this  northwestern  State.  Some  trivial  in- 
terest turned  the  tide  of  settlement  to  the 
site  of  Portland,  resulting  in  the  founding 
and  building  up  of  a  great  and  beautiful 
city  there. 


II. 


MOUNT  HOOD,  MOUNT  TACOMA,  AND  PUGET 

SOUND. 

We  arrived  at  Portland  at  ten  o'clock 
this  morning,  and  obtained  good  accommo- 
dations at  the  Esmond  House,  thanks  to 
our  kind  friend,  Mr.  Cofran  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, who  bespoke  for  us  every  care  and 
attention  while  we  remained  there,  until 
April  13th.  Portland  is  a  pretty  city  upon 
the  Willamette  River,  about  twelve  miles 
from  its  confluence  with  the  Columbia 
River.  It  stands  upon  a  narrow  strip  of 
level  area  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Wil- 
lamette, along  which  it  extends  for  several 
miles,  reaching  back  upon  the  slopes  of  the 
"  Heights  "  behind  the  city.  These  are 
two  very  high  precipitous  bluffs  called 
"  The  Heights,"  from  the  tops  of  which  a 
wic  "^  extent  of  the  surrounding  country 
can  be  seen,  to  the  east  and  north,  embrac- 
ing that  region  of  the  State  traversed  by  the 
picturesque  Cascade  range  of  mountains. 


MOUNT  HOOD. 


45 


By  the  courtesy  of  our  friend  Mr.  Edwin 
M.  Arthur,  a  banker  of  Portland,  we  were 
afforded  the  rare  pleasure  of  several  drives 
with  him,  behind  a  spirited  pair  of  sorrel 
horses,  to  the  summits  of  the  lower  and 
the  upper  Heights. 

On  both  occasions  the  air  was  delight- 
fully clear  and  warm,  and  balmy  with  the 
odors  of  the  sweet  firs  of  Oregon.  Wild 
flowers  were  blooming  all  along  our  way. 
Dandelions  as  large  as  dinner  plates,  fresh 
and  shining  in  the  dew,  sent  up  thick  clus- 
ters of  yellow  blossoms,  and  multitudes  of 
the  lovely  wild  currant  shrubs  stood  upon 
all  sides  literally  shrouded  in  robes  of  pink 
bloom,  shading  from  the  most  delicate  rose 
tints  to  the  deepest  hues.  Little  boys  came 
out  from  the  narrow  footpaths  leading  into 
the  recesses  of  the  hills,  their  hands  filled 
with  great  bunches  of  wild  trillium,  or 
wake-robin, — a  far  prettier  name  for  the 
lovely  wildlings.  It  looked  very  strange  to 
recognize  these  flowers  growing  wild  upon 
the  "  Heights,"  and  in  full  blossom  on  the 
1 2th  of  April,  when  we  knew  that  in  our 
sunny  garden  in  Massachusetts  the  green 
foliage  had  hardly  broken  the  soil  above 
them. 


46 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


An  abrupt  turn  in  the  steep  ascent 
turned  our  eyes  away  from  every  attrac- 
tion in  our  immediate  neighborhood  to  the 
great  white  mountains  in  the  distance. 
Thenceforth,  to  the  summit  of  the  Height, 
we  could  behold  nothing  but  the  stately 
mountains  of  Oregon. 

Arriving  there,  such  a  scene  of  tran- 
scendent beauty  and  grandeur,  such  a  rare 
combination  of  city  and  country,  rivers  and 
valleys,  hills  and  woodlands,  and  towering 
mountains,  reaching  far  from  the  south 
across  the  east  to  the  mountains  of  Wash- 
ington Territory  on  the  north,  we  may 
never  behold  again. 

Almost  beneath  us  lay  the  beautiful  city 
of  Portland,  with  the  broad  Willamette, 
spanned  by  airy  bridges,  and  dotted  with 
ships  and  boats  of  all  descriptions,  at  her 
feet.  Across  the  river,  upon  the  fine  roll- 
ing upland  were  the  lovely  groves  and  white 
villas  of  East  Portland  ;  and  beyond,  but  a 
few  miles  distant,  flows  the  noble  Columbia, 
at  this  part  of  its  course  nearly  parallel 
with  the  Willamette.  East  of  the  Colum- 
bia is  a  broken  chain  of  blue-wooded  hills, 
many  of  them  frosted  with  snow,  beyond 
which   rise  the  great    earth-born    giants, 


MOUNT  HOOD. 


47 


Mount  Hood,  Mount  St.  Helens,  Mount 
Adams,  and  Mounts  Tacoma  and  Jefferson. 
These  last  two  are  so  far  away  that  we 
can  only  see  their  white  summits  gleaming 
distinct  and  sharp  above  the  intervening 
mountains  against  the  sky. 

Mount  Hood  is  magnificent  in  his  serene 
grandeur,  his  sharp  angular  top  shining 
like  lustrous  pearl  in  the  level  sunbeams. 
As  the  shadows  deepen  toward  his  broad, 
tree-covered  base,  the  light  takes  a  rosy 
hue,  shading  down  in  deeper  tints  to  a 
solemn  purple  among  the  misty  mazes  of 
the  foot-hills  below. 

St.  Helens  rises  on  our  left,  graceful  and 
peerless  in  her  beauty  as  a  stately  bride. 
Her  white  mantle  of  spotless  purity  falls 
over  her  head  and  drapes  gracefully  down 
her  sides  like  a  soft-flowing  raiment  of 
white  wool. 

Mount  Adams  rises  from  behind  a  grizzly 
mountain  ridge,  a  double-headed  giant, 
broad  and  massive  as  if  he  bore  the  "  eter- 
nal years  of  God  "  upon  his  forehead ;  cleft 
from  the  crown  of  his  head  do'vn  deep  into 
his  heart,  he  rises  stern  and  implacable  to 
Time  and  the  elements. 

Tacoma,  from  its  distance,  is  a  sugges- 


48 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


tion  rather  than  an  assertion  of  height,  and 
Mount  Jefferson  rises  above  a  distant  chain 
of  mountains  almost  as  pointed  as  an  arrow 
head,  and  white  as  alabaster.  The  three 
mountains  which  have  thus  far  stood  in 
preeminent  grandeur  before  us,  are  Mount 
Shasta,  Mount  Hood,  and  St.  Helens. 
"  There  is  a  glory  of  the  Sun,  and  a  glory  of 
the  Moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  Stars." 

As  we  descended  from  the  Heights  down 
the  rough  zigzag  road,  but  little  better  than 
the  old  trail  which  it  once  was,  we  had  a 
fine  bird's-eye  view  of  the  city  below  us. 
Its  broad  and  well-paved  streets,  with  their 
lopj  lines  of  shade  and  ornamental  trees 
and  shrubs,  just  bursting  into  leaf  and  blos- 
som ;  its  many  handsome  and  often  palatial 
residences,  with  their  richly  shaven  lawns 
and  hedges  and  rare  shrubs  ;  its  ornate  and 
costly  churches  ;  its  large,  numerous,  and 
tasteful  public  buildings  ;  its  great  business 
blocks  and  crowded  wharves  ;  its  busy  ve- 
hicles and  street  cars  running  in  every 
direction,  —  all  impress  us  forcibly  with  an 
appreciation  of  the  rapid  growth,  the  wealth 
and  importance  of  this  "  Queen  City  "  of 
our  great  "Northwest." 

To-morrow  morning  we  shall  leave  Ore, 


MOUNT  TACOMA   AND  PUGET  SOUND.   49 

gon  behind  us,  as  we  go  northward  on  our 
journey  to  Tacoma  in  Washington  Terri- 
tory. It  is  a  lovely  State,  and  very  desir- 
able for  residence.  Were  I  called  upon  to- 
night to  choose  the  location  of  my  "  five 
acre  lot "  on  this  Pacific  coast,  I  should  de- 
cide, without  any  hesitation,  upon  one  of 
the  many  pleasant  spots  about  the  city  of 
roitland.  The  winters  here  are  mild  and 
delightful,  the  seasons  have  the  same  di- 
versity as  in  New  England,  with  less  ex- 
tremes of  either  heat  or  cold.  The  country 
is  very  fertile,  the  surface  undulating,  the 
rivers  large  and  navigable,  and  the  people 
refined,  cultivated,  and  very  hospitable. 

April  1 3.  We  left  Portland  late  on  the 
morning  of  the  13th,  taking  the  railway 
train  for  Tacoma,  Washington  Territory. 
There  was  a  heavy  fog  over  the  river  and 
the  surrounding  country,  entirely  hiding 
the  mountains  from  our  view.  It  soon  be- 
gan to  dissipate,  and  gradually  one  after 
another  of  the  cloud-like  peaks  and  domes 
of  the  mountains  came  from  the  mists  and 
filled  our  gaze  for  the  time  to  the  exclusion 
of  everything  else.  I  saw  the  Willamette 
flowing  mirror-like  along  our  way,  between 
green   banks   and  lovely  hill-slopes,  with 


50 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


fti*i4| 


broad  expanses  of  pasturages  and  low 
shrubby  marsh  lands  intervening,  and 
noted  the  graceful  beauty  of  the  blossom- 
ing wild  currants. 

We  reached  the  Columbia  River  at  about 
two  o'clock.  It  is  a  very  broad,  deep,  and 
majestic  river,  movirg  on  between  its  wild 
and  wooded  banks  with  a  stately  motion, 
not  swift  and  broken,  but  mighty,  forceful, 
and  irresistible.  Our  train  crossed  the 
Columbia  upon  a  large  transportation  ferry- 
boat, and  we  arrived  at  Kaiama.  This  is  a 
small  town,  having  considerable  traffic  in 
lumber,  vast  quantities  of  which  lay  all 
about  ready  for  exportation.  For  nearly 
our  whole  route  to  Tacoma  some  of  the 
q:reat  mountains  were  in  view.  At  one 
i.me,  for  a  long  distance,  the  five  majestic 
mountains,  Jefferson,  Hood,  Adams,  St. 
Helens,  and  Tacoma,  stood  distinct  and 
white  as  marble,  piercing  the  heavens  with 
their  lofty  tops,  —  such  a  procession  of 
mouiitain  grandeur  it  is  jeldom  the  good 
fortune  of  a  traveller  to  behold.  The  day 
was  exceptionally  clear,  the  atmosphere 
more  like  the  balmy  breatt  of  June  than  of 
April,  and  wild  roses,  wake-robins,  Oregon 
lilies,  and  the  creamy-white  wild  callas  were 


MOUNT  TACOMA   AND  PUGET  SOUND.    5 1 

blooming  abundantly,  upon  all  our  way 
from  Portland  to  the  city  of  Tacoma. 
From  Kalama  to  Little  Falls  we  followed 
the  course  of  the  Cowlitz,  and  in  this  por- 
tion of  our  journey  we  had  our  best  views 
of  Adams  and  St.  Helens.  They  stood 
exactly  east  of  us,  from  forty  to  fifty  miles 
away,  with  no  elevations  of  sufficient  height 
to  break  the  apparent  level  of  the  inter- 
vening country.  The  Cowlitz  River  is  a 
fine  stream  of  clear,  ice-cold  water,  flowing 
rapidly  down  its  frequently  rocky  bed  from 
its  sources  among  the  foot-hills  of  Mount 
Ranicr  or  Tacoma  and  St.  Helens.  Ka- 
lama stand.'-  near  to  its  junction  with  the 
Columbia  River.  We  followed  the  Cow- 
litz northward  through  many  romantic 
scenes  of  woodland  beauty,  to  the  town  of 
Little  Falls,  where  the  white  and  emerald 
water  flows  rapidly  over  a  steep  incline  in 
its  course,  forming  a  succession  of  lovely 
cascades  and  miniature  mistv  falls. 

At  Tenino  we  diverged  from  our  north- 
ern course  which  led  onward  to  Olympia, 
the  capital  of  Washington  Territory,  and 
taking  a  northeasterly  direction  to  Tacoma 
we  crossed  a  very  beautiful  tract  of  coun- 
try called   Yelm    Prairie.     This  is  a  fine 


52 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


broad  upland  prairie,  many  miles  in  extent, 
and  ornamented  throughout  its  length  and 
breadth  by  the  beautiful  and  symmetrical 
Norway  spruce,  with  here  and  there  tall 
groups  of  the  native  firs  and  pines.  The 
soil  is  shallow,  but  the  turf  was  green  and 
smooth  as  a  shaven  lawn,  and  starred 
by  great  patches  of  wild  strawberry  blos- 
soms. From  Yelm  Prairie  we  had  a  splen- 
did view  of  Mount  Tacoma.  It  looks 
larger  and  higher  from  this  place  of  obser- 
vation than  it  does  from  the  city  of  Ta- 
coma. Like  Shasta,  it  presented  various 
shapes  as  we  journeyed  across  the  prairie, 
and  we  could  individualize  its  great  shoul- 
ders, peaks,  and  fields  of  ice,  which  all  go 
to  make  up  the  perfect  symmetry  of  its 
grand  dome  as  seen  from  Tacoma. 

As  we  approached  the  city  we  observed 
large  tracts  of  stump  land,  where  the  lum- 
bermen had  cut,  and  then  devastated  by 
fire,  the  stately  trees  and  forest  lands.  It 
looks  very  wasteful  to  our  Eastern  eyes  to 
see  such  lavish  waste  of  these  noble  forests 
as  met  our  observation  upon  all  sides  in 
our  journey  from  San  Francisco  to  Tacoma. 
Time  will  rectify  this  extravagance,  no 
doubt. 


MOUNT   TACOMA   AND  PL/GET  HOUND.    53 

A  pleasant  apartment  was  given  to  us  at 
"The  Tacoma,"  one  which  afforded  us  an 
outlook  upon  Puget  Sound,  at  Commence- 
ment Bay,  into  which  just  before  our  win- 
dow flowed  the  Puyallup  River.  Across  the 
bay  was  a  fine  forest  of  pines  and  firs, 
upon  a  point  of  high  land  jutting  into  the 
Sound,  appropriated  by  government  to  the 
Puyallup  Indians.  This  is  called  the  "  In- 
dian Reservation,"  and  is  occupied  by  the 
Puyallups,  a  remnant  of  the  old  Modocs 
who  gave  the  early  settlers  of  this  country 
so  much  trouble  by  their  resistance  to  the 
encroachments  of  the  whites  upon  what 
they  deemed  their  rightful  heritage.  About 
fifty  miles  to  the  southeast  stands  "  Mount 
Tacoma,"  or,  as  it  is  known  elsewhere  in 
the  territory,  Mount  Rainier. 

April  15.  Mount  Rainier,  or  Tacoma, 
has  shone  fitfully  upon  our  sight  since  we 
arrived  here  on  the  evening  of  the  13th. 
Clouds  often  obscure  its  top  and  frequently 
hide  the  whole  mountain.  It  seems  to  be 
not  more  than  five  miles  away,  but  we  are 
assured  its  distance  is  fifty  miles.  Last 
night  the  sunset  light  upon  the  great  moun- 
tain was  very  lovely.  It  shone  and  glis- 
tened like  silver,  then  changed  to  a  rosy 


54 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


hue  which  brightened  into  a  rich  rose  red 
upon  its  icy  siioulders,  thence  fell  in  darker 
but  duller  tints  down  among  the  shadowy 
foot-hills  and  valleys.  The  Tacomians 
boast  that  Mount  Tacoma  has  fifteen  dis- 
tinct glaciers  upon  its  summit  and  sides. 
C.  thinks  it  is  the  grandest  mountain  we 
have  yet  seen.  It  does  not  so  impress  me. 
It  is  a  magnificent  object  to  look  upon, 
different  from  the  others,  yet  not  wholly 
unlike  St.  Helens.  There  is  no  falling 
away  in  its  proportions  in  any  part.  It  is 
sustained  throughout  its  entire  height  and 
breadth  —  a  grand  and  majestic  work  of 
nature.  The  people  here  claim  it  is  the 
highest  of  all  the  mountains  of  the  Cascade 
ranges.  It  may  be  so.  There  is  so  little 
difference  between  it  and  Shasta,  there  may 
well  be  a  question  in  the  mind  of  an  ob- 
server as  to  which  of  the  two  mountains 
belong  the  extra  two  feet  which  mark  the 
difference  in  their  height. 

At  six  o'clock  p.  M.  the  sun  is  .shining 
clear,  the  tide  is  stealing  in  upon  the  flats 
of  Commencement  Bay,  and  the  clouds  are 
lifting  and  gracefully  floating  away  from 
the  towering  head  of  Tacoma  ;  which,  for 
a  full   hour   after   the   town   below  it   is 


MOUNT   TACOMA   AND   PUGET  SOUND.   55 


wrapped  in  the  shades  of  twilight,  will 
shine  down  serenely  upon  us  steeped  in 
the  mellow  glow  of  the  sunset. 

April  17.  Tacoma  is  situated  upon  the 
west  shore  of  the  bay,  upon  a  high  bluff 
which  rises  still  higher  to  the  top  of  a 
long  level  area,  where  are  many  fine  villa 
residences  and  several  fine  churches.  The 
Anna  Wright  Seminary  for  girls  stands 
well  up  the  steep  slope  with  its  various  de- 
pendent structures,  all  large  and  fine-look- 
ing buildings.  The  seminary  is  in  a  highly 
prosperous  condition,  and  numbers  among 
its  pupils  young  ladies  from  all  parts  of  our 
northwestern  States  and  Territories.  Near 
by  is  another  fine  educational  institution 
for  boys,  also  well  patronized.  Pacific 
Avenue,  lower  down  the  slope,  is  a  very 
imposing,  long  street,  with  fine  warehouses 
and  mercantile  buildings  upon  both  sides, 
including  four  well  appointed  banks  and 
various  other  public  buildings.  Farther 
north,  where  the  shore  dips  to  the  Sound, 
is  the  old  vilJag^e  of  Tacoma,  now  united 
with  the  Young  Tacoma  by  a  broad  avenue 
where  are  many  fine  residences.  At  Old 
Tacoma  is  the  little  church,  the  first  that 
was  built  by  the  pioneers  of  the  city,  which 


56 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


boasts  of  possessing  the  oldest  bell  tower 
in  the  country,  if  not  the  world.  The  small 
church  was  built  with  one  corner  abutting 
upon  a  noble  silver  fir-tree,  one  of  the 
oldest  and  stateliest  of  its  kind.  This  was 
cut  off  about  seventy  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  at  this  height  was  suspended  a  bell,  to 
be  rung  by  a  rope  depending  from  it  to  the 
ground.  Ivy  climbs  and  covers  its  gray  bark 
with  its  beautiful  green  verdure,  and  gives 
it  a  very  picturesque  and  pleasing  effect. 
A  little  farther  on  upon  the  shore  are  the 
shipping  wharves  of  the  city,  and  near  to 
them  are  very  large  lumber  mills  and  grain 
elevators.  The  harbor  is  deep  and  wide, 
and  from  the  broad,  extended  piers  ships 
depart  daily  for  all  southern  ports  upon 
our  own  coast,  and  frequent  shipments  of 
lumber  are  taken  to  China,  Japan,  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  and  South  America. 

The  population  of  Tacoma  numbers  over 
tv/enty  thousand.  The  three  rival  cities  of 
our  North  Pacific  coast  are  Portland,  Ta- 
coma, and  Seattle.  Each  one  claims  pre- 
eminence. Portland  is  the  oldest.  Ta- 
coma and  Seattle  are  more  enthusiastic  and 
progressive.  The  leading  business  men  of 
Tacoma  are,  as  a  rule,  young  men,  ambi- 


k 


MOUNT  TACOMA   AND  PUGET  SOUND.    57 

tious  and  full  of  "  public  spirit."  The  strong 
and  determined  will  to  do,  and  overcome 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  progress  —  which 
animated  our  forefathers  upon  the  eastern 
shores  of  our  continent  —  seems  to  pervade 
and  fill  the  atmosphere  of  Tacoma.  At  no 
other  city  on  the  Pacific  coast  were  we 
more  impressed  with  the  intelligent  and 
intellectual  appearance  of  its  young  men. 
There  were  at  least  seventy-five,  perhaps 
more  of  them,  who  frequented  the  dining 
hall  during  our  stay  in  the  city,  who  are 
engaged  in  active  business  there.  There 
was  an  atmosphere  of  frankness  and  re- 
spectability about  those  energetic  young 
business  men  whom  we  saw,  that  quite 
won  our  confidence  and  respect.  The  scen- 
ery about  Tacoma  is  diversified  and  charm- 
ing The  waters  of  Puget  Sound,  with  its 
winding  shores  and  beautiful  islands,  the 
peerless  Mount  Tacoma  —  ever  grand  yet 
ever  lovely,  whether  we  behold  it  in  the 
golden  light  of  the  morning,  the  solemn 
pearly  whiteness  of  the  noontide,  or  the 
roseate  hues  of  the  sunset,  —  afford  a  rare 
combination  of  loveliness  and  grandeur. 

April  19,    At   no  place   in  our  western 
tour  have  we  been  mure  hospitably  enter- 


58 


PICTURESQUE   ALASKA. 


tained,  or  found  a  more  cordial  reception 
as  tourists,  than  at  the  city  of  Tacoma. 
"  The  Tacoma  "  is  an  exceptionally  delight- 
ful and  home-like  house,  large  and  com- 
plete in  all  its  appointments ;  in  many  re- 
spects luxurious  in  the  comforts  it  affords 
its  guests.  Its  table  service  is  most  irre- 
proachable, its  cuisine  excellent,  and  its 
proprietor  and  manager  a  thorough  gentle- 
man in  every  respect.  Our  hearty  thanks 
are  due  to  Mr.  W.  D.  Tyler  for  much  kind- 
ness and  courtesy  during  our  two  visits  to 
the  city  of  Tacoma. 

We  went  on  board  the  steamer  Olympian 
this  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  bound  for 
Victoria,  B.  C.  The  morning  was  some- 
what misty,  but  before  an  hour  had  passed 
the  sun  shone  out,  and  all  was  bright  as  a 
summer  day.  We  steamed  down  the  bay 
between  the  Indian  Reservation  and  the 
city  shore,  past  the  large  sawmills,  which 
manufacture  vast  quantities  of  lumber  for 
our  own  Pacific,  and  many  foreign  ports ; 
past  old  Tacoma,  which  sat  upon  the  low 
shore  beyond,  dingy  and  neglected  like  a 
gray  old  Indian  squaw,  at  the  feet  of  the 
beautiful  and  ambitious  young  Tacoma 
upon  the  bluffs  above ;  and  rounding  the 


MOUNT  TACOMA   AND  PUGET  SOUND.   59 

point  of  the  Indian  Woodlands,  passed  on, 
between  it  and  a  large  green  island  as  yet 
untouched  by  civilization,  toward  the  en- 
terprising city  of  Seattle. 

We  were  in  a  quiet  and  contemplative 
frame  of  mind,  amiable  and  satisfied  with 
ourselves  and  our  surroundings.  There 
was  nothing  in  the  line  of  lofty  grandeur 
to  call  forth  expressions  of  amazement  or 
admiration,  and  a  state  of  assurance  that 
everything  was  well  with  us  had  settled  in 
our  minds,  when  we  received  information 
that  our  baggage  was  all  left  behind  upon 
the  wharf  at  Tacoma.  We  were  on  board 
the  fast  going  steamer  Olympian,  no  other 
craft  could  overtake  her,  if  it  tried  ever 
so  hard  ;  we  concluded  to  make  the  best 
of  a  stupid  blunder  and  go  on  our  way  to 
Victoria  without  it,  trusting  the  assurance 
given  us  that  it  would  be  forwarded  the 
next  day.  We  passed  the  head  of  the 
beautiful  island  on  our  left,  then  another 
smaller  but  no  less  wild  and  romantic 
one,  and  rounding  a  sharp  headland  on  our 
right,  entered  into  the  fine  deep  harbor  of 
Seattle. 

As  we  steamed  up  to  the  pier,  we  saw  a 
crowd  of  white  men,  Indians,  and  China- 


6o 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


men  awaiting  our  arrival.  We  remained 
there  but  fifteen  minutes,  and  made  our 
observations  of  the  town  and  its  harbor 
from  the  deck  of  the  steamer.  Seattle  gave 
us  the  impression  of  a  large  and  thrifty 
town  or  city  rising  quickly  from  the  ab- 
rupt shore  to  a  high  ridge,  which  appeared 
to  slope  gently  inland  on  the  other  side. 
The  harbor  is  almost  circular.  Across 
the  broad  entrance  the  distant  Olympian 
range  of  mountains  stood  straight  as  a 
massive  and  gigantic  wall ;  the  many  miles 
of  foreground,  beyond  the  water,  were  fore- 
shortened to  a  long  dark  strip  on  which  it 
seemed  to  stand.  South  of  the  city,  Mount 
Tacoma  rose  lofty  and  white,  looking,  as 
she  really  is,  as  much  a  part  of  the  scenery 
about  Seattle  as  of  Tacoma.  The  people 
of  Seattle  refuse  to  call  it  by  any  name  but 
Mount  Rainier.  The  situation  of  the  town 
is  very  commanding  ;  its  wharfage  almost 
unlimited,  affording  most  excellent  facili- 
ties for  commercial  enterprise.  There  are 
large  and  substantial  business  blocks  of 
stone  and  brick,  schools,  hospitals,  fine 
public  buildings,  and  private  residences, 
giving  evidences  of  taste,  wealth,  and  enter- 
prise.    The   natural  scenery   surrounding 


MOUNT  TACOMA  AND  PUGET  SOUND.  6 1 


Seattle  is  exceptionally  attractive,  the  peo- 
ple public-spirited  and  ambitious,  and  the 
natural  advantages  of  position  and  climatic 
conditions  of  situation  are  all  conducive  to 
the  rapid  growth  of  a  great  and  prosperous 
city. 

We  passed  out  of  the  harbor  of  Seattle, 
leaving  a  broad  white  wake  behind,  leading 
back  like  a  marble  paved  street  to  the  city  ; 
so  quiet  are  the  waters  that  the  track  was 
broken  by  neither  sign  nor  ripple  of  a 
counter  current.  We  rounded  another  pro- 
jecting point,  passed  to  the  westward  of 
another  green,  fir-covered  island,  and  came 
into  a  broad  expanse  of  the  Sound.  The 
sea  was  waveless,  there  was  just  a  wrinkled 
surface,  which  quivered  and  gently  undu- 
lated in  response  to  the  throbbing,  onward 
motion  of  the  great  wheels,  which  churned  * 
the  water  into  hissing,  crystal  foam,  and 
trailed  it  behind  our  ship  like  a  broad  white 
banner  on  the  sea.  The  color  of  the  water 
was  the  darkest  marine  blue,  with  occa- 
sional spots  of  lighter  tint,  a  reflection  of 
the  thin  white  clouds  which  were  floating 
above  it. 

West  of  us  extended  the  rarely  beautiful 
Olympian  Range  of  mountains.    The  shore 


62 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


and  country  lying  between  the  Sound  and 
the  mountains  was  a  mere  narrow  strip  to 
our  eyes,  just  a  strong  dividing  line  be- 
tween them,  though  really  many  miles  in 
breadth,  embracing  within  it  Hood's  Chan- 
nel, a  broad  inlet  of  the  sea,  which  divides 
the  "  Great  Peninsula  "  from  the  region  of 
the  Olympian  Range. 

East  of  us  the  shore  rose  abruptly,  with 
tall  firs  covering  its  whole  extent,  and 
fringing  the  blue  horizon  with  their  dark 
spires.  Bending  round  toward  the  north 
in  the  far  distance,  the  shore  seemed  to 
clasp  us  upon  all  sides,  with  its  dark  bluish 
border  of  evergreens,  like  a  low  wall  sepa- 
rating the  blue  of  the  sky  above  from  the 
intense  deep  blue  of  the  sea  below.  Above 
this  wall,  exactly  to  the  north  of  us,  stood 
Mount  Baker,  pure  as  the  whitest  drift  of 
snow,  shadowless  and  spotless  from  peak  to 
base,  separated  from  the  sea  by  its  foot- 
hills, a  long  blue  mound  just  one  shade 
brighter  than  the  water  and  one  shade 
darker  than  the  sky.  There  was  an  entire 
absence  of  every  suggestion  of  color,  save 
the  four  distinct  and  pure  shades  of  blue  ; 
the  marble  whiteness  of  high  pyramidal 
Mount  Baker  was  the  only  visible  object 


MOUNT  TACOMA   AND  PUGET  SOUND.  63 

to  break  the  perfect  monochrome.  As  we 
steamed  on  toward  Port  Townsend,  the 
enchantment  of  the  scene  remained  unbro- 
ken ;  and  soon  the  loftier  peaks  of  the  Cas- 
cade Range  began  to  rise  above  the  blue 
wall  of  firs,  until  we  reached  a  part  of  our 
voyage  where  the  entire  Cascade  Range, 
from  Mount  Baker  on  the  north  to  Tacoma 
on  the  south,  stood  in  one  long  and  grand 
procession  of  white -capped  summits.  I 
counted  fifty-three ;  those  near  to  Mount 
Tacoma  were  more  dimly  seen,  but  still 
defi.itely  white. 

U^>  :>n  our  left,  toward  the  Pacific  coast, 
extended  the  fine  Olympian  Range  ;  in  it 
I  counted  twenty-two  white  summits,  which 
were  especially  prominent  among  the  many 
more  less  conspicuous  ones.  These  are 
massive,  clear-cut  heights,  with  sides  like 
the  faces  of  a  diamond,  some  white,  with 
great  depths  of  level  snow,  and  others  blue 
and  shining  like  flint,  too  perpendicular  to 
admit  either  snow  or  ice  to  cover  them. 
The  Olympian  Mountains,  though  not  as 
high  as  many  we  have  seen,  impress  us 
with  a  sense  of  elegance  and  stateliness 
which  belong  peculiarly  to  themselves. 

Port  Townsend   is  a  port  of  entrance 


64 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


on  our  coast  near  the  military  post,  Fort 
Townsend,  which  commands  the  Strait  of 
Juan  de  Fuca.  Across  the  strait,  and  but 
twenty-six  mi'es  away,  is  the  city  of  Vic- 
toria, B.  C.  Port  Townsend  is  not  a  large 
town,  but  is  gradually  increasing  in  impor- 
tance. It  is  the  centre  of  traffic  for  many 
miles  upon  our  northwestern  coast ;  lum- 
ber, iron-piping,  and  various  other  articles 
of  merchandise,  being  the  freight  taken 
upon  our  boat  for  distribution  at  ports 
farther  north.  As  a  port  of  entry  it  stands 
among  the  foremost  in  our  country,  in 
the  number  of  seagoing  crafts  which  are 
obliged  to  call  the^e  and  report  to  govern- 
ment officials,  in  pa.«=sing  between  northern 
and  southern  ports  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

We  called  at  the  post-office,  the  dry- 
goods  stores,  and  its  one  bookstore.  The 
postmaster  was  not  blessed  with  the  spirit 
of  accommodation,  but  by  perseverance  on 
our  part  we  were  able  to  accomplish  our 
legitimate  business  there,  and  proceeded  to 
the  bookstore  to  purchase  something  to 
instruct  us  on  our  voyage  to  Alaska  The 
clerk  in  attendance  politely  regretted  his 
inability  to  serve  us.  He  bad  nothing  in 
stock  to  answer  to  our  demands  ;  he  *'  had 


PUGET  SOUND. 


65 


everything  we  asked  for  last  year,  but  they 
were  all  sold  to  tourists,  and  the  stock  had 
not  been  replenished."  "The  stock  "  was 
so  slender  that  it  would  not  stand  upright 
upon  his  shelves,  which  gave  us  an  impres- 
sion that  the  social  atmosphere  of  Port 
Townsend  had  in  it  but  a  slight  admixture 
of  that  tonic  which  improves  the  taste  and 
appetite  for  reading  and  general  cultiva- 
tion. 

We  next  ventured  to  ascend  a  much  in- 
clined plank  walk  rising  not  very  gradu- 
ally above  the  roofs  of  tall  buildings  on 
main  street  below,  to  the  high  bluff  above 
them.  We  found  there  the  dwelling-houses, 
the  churches,  halls,  etc.,  of  the  town.  I 
think  the  cliff  must  be  nearly  two  hundred 
feet  above  the  Sound.  There  was  a  pretty 
village  of  cosy  cottage  homes,  with  neat 
flower  gardens  in  front  and  lace  curtains 
within,  and  with  small  and  large  dogs  lying 
lazily  upon  the  doorsteps.  There  were  four 
small  churches,  all  within  a  stone's-throvv 
of  each  other,  which  led  us  to  infer  that 
the  small  town  of  about  fifteen  hundred 
people  was  not  destitute  of  its  full  comple- 
ment of  choir  disagreements,  its  stings  of 
village  gossip,  and  various  other  annoying 


66 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


jealousies,  common  to  a  small  community, 
wherein  too  many  spires  are  pointing 
heavenward  to  the  joys  of  the  future  rather 
than  to  the  every-day  duties  of  the  present 
life.  We  were  introduced  to  Judge  Swan, 
who  has  lived  at  Port  Tovvnsend  for  thirty 
years.  He  is  a  man  of  influence  in  the 
town,  and  much  versed  in  the  native  lore 
of  the  Northwest,  as  well  as  in  various 
scientific  matters  relating  to  this  portion 
of  our  country.  We  left  the  deep  waters 
of  Port  Townsend,  and  after  we  had  passed 
the  light-house,  which  stands  out  into  the 
channel  upon  a  long,  level  reach  of  sandy 
beach,  we  steamed  rapidly  into  the  current 
of  the  strait  where  it  sets  into  the  Sound. 
The  sea  was  changed  ;  though  not  dis- 
agreeably rough,  the  gentle  ripple  had  given 
place  to  distinct  waves  and  currents. 

Mount  Baker  and  its  long  trailing  line 
of  lesser  heights  gradually  faded  from  our 
sight ;  but  the  cold  steel-blue  Olympians 
kept  even  pace  with  us,  and  seemed  neither 
to  recede  nor  change  their  relative  posi- 
tions with  each  other.  When  we  arrived 
at  Victoria,  there  they  stood  exactly  oppo- 
site to  its  picturesque  and  island-locked 
harbor. 


1 


PUGET  SOUND. 


67 


At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  are 
pleasantly  established  in  a  commodious 
room,  at  the  Driard  House,  where  we 
shall  await  the  arrival  of  the  steamship 
George  W.  Elder,  upon  which  we  are  to 
resume  our  travels  to  Alaska. 


III. 


VICTOkIA     AND     NANAIMO,     B.    C,    TO     FORT 
TONGAS,    ALASKA, 

April  19.  The  day  was  dark  and  rainy, 
and  we  spent  it  mostly  in  our  room.  I 
made  one  excursion  to  a  bookstore  and 
purchased  Lieut.  Schwatka's  "Alaska," 
and  a  small  guide-oook  to  the  Chinook 
languai^e.  This  last  we  studied  in  the  dim 
light  of  the  day,  and  were  much  amused  as 
well  as  complimented  by  finding  that  the 
Indians  throughout  the  entire  Northwest 
give  the  name  of  "  Boston  "  to  all  white  in- 
habitants of  the  United  States,  as  well  as 
to  the  whole  country  itself.  In  fact,  "Bos- 
ton "  has  more  significance  to  these  native 
Alaskans  than  any  other  word  in  their  or 
the  English  lanijuage.  To  them  it  stands 
f(>r  i444^Ui'4ence,  i»vcomf>rel>e«wbl€  jx>wer, 
and  d  stiny.  Mr.  llokien  with  a  i)arty  of 
tourists,  who  came  to  Victoria  with  us, 
took  their  drives  about  the  city  in  spite  of 
the  rain,  and  after  dinner  went  on  board 
the  return  boat  for  Tacoma. 


VICTORIA.  69 

We  experienced  no  sense  of  loneliness, 
however,  at  being  left  behind ;  for  the 
people  of  British  Columbia  are  very  like 
our  people  though  as  yet  not  of  us,  a  mis- 
take which  time  will  rectify. 

April  21.  The  sun  rose  brilliant,  and 
we  went  out  early  in  the  morning  to  look 
about  the  city.  We  called  at  a  shoe-store 
and  bought  rubber  boots.  The  proprietor 
served  us,  and  recognizing  us  as  tourists, 
began  to  talk  about  "the  States."  We 
smiled  assent  to  all  he  had  to  say,  and  I  am 
quite  sure  we  were  especially  amiable  in 
our  expressions,  for  he  remarked,  "  I  like 
the  States  and  I  like  the  people ;  I  have 
seen  two  or  three  very  nice  gentlemen  who 
came  from  the  States.  In  fact  I  should 
not  feel  so  very  bad  if  they  were  annexed 
some  time."  After  much  search  among 
dry-goods  stores  we  succeeded  in  finding 
some  long  wool  gaiters ;  observing  that 
they  were  black  we  bought  them,  remem- 
bering the  good  service  they  might  possi- 
bly do  Its  in  case  of  shipwreck.  At  Hib- 
bins'  bookstore  we  furnished  ourselves,  in 
addition  to  our  work  on  Alaska,  with  a 
volume  of  Whittier's  poems  and  another  of 
Lowell's.     Thus   equipped  we   considv;red 


70 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


ourselves  equal  to  a  voyage  around  the 
world,  as  far  as  our  literary  needs  were 
considered.  Next  we  arranged  for  a  drive. 
From  the  stand  in  the  street  we  chose  a 
large  barouche,  not  especially  for  its  size, 
but  because  it  was  the  cleanest,  nicest, 
looking  vehicle  at  hand,  and  the  driver  pos- 
sessed an  air  of  intelligence.  The  carriage 
was  large  enough  to  do  convoy  duty  for  the 
"Great  Mogul,"  but  we  knew  we  should 
have  to  pay  for  our  state  drive  a  fixed  sum, 
and  why  not  have  all  we  were  to  pay  for. 

Our  driver  proved  to  be  a  man  from  Bos- 
ton, and  finding  we  too  were  from  Massa- 
chusetts, he  at  once  felt  called  upon  to  vin- 
dicate himself  for  abandoning  that  "  Hub 
of  the  Universe,"  by  showing  us  all  that 
was  worth  the  seeing  in  the  city  of  his 
adoption.  His  employer  advised  him  to 
show  us  all  he  could  of  the  country,  "  for," 
said  he,  "  if  they  are  going  to  Alaska,  they 
will  see  nothing  but  snow  and  ice,  until 
they  get  back  again."  We  found  the  city 
of  Victoria  to  be  neat  and  thrifty-looking, 
growing  substantially  if  not  rapidly,  with  a 
good  though  small  harbor.  The  Chinese 
wholly  occupy  several  streets,  which  are 
clean  and  well  ordered  ;  the  buildings  are 


VICTORIA. 


71 


many  of  them  large  wholesale  establish- 
mentp,  the  proprietors  importing  directly 
from  China  and  Japan.  Schoolhouses  are 
not  as  numerous  and  prominent  as  in  the 
new  cities  of  the  United  States. 

There  is  a  large  tract  of  land  just  outside 
the  city  proper,  though  within  its  limits, 
which  is  owned  by  the  city,  and  held  for  a 
park.  It  is  finely  situated  upon  the  shore 
of  the  Sound,  having  a  pleasant  outlook 
across  it  to  our  grand  Olympians,  and  con- 
taining a  fine  natural  growth  of  fir-trees 
with  groups  of  other  varieties.  It  contains 
a  broad  parade  ground  and  a  pretty  eleva- 
tion upon  which  stands  a  flagstaff,  which 
C.  says  "  had  we  kept  to  our  slogan  of  '54° 
40'  or  fight '  as  we  ought,  would  now  be 
proudly  floating  the  '  Stars  and  Stripes  '  of 
the  United  States." 

After  dinner  we  repacked  our  trunks  to 
have  all  things  in  readiness  for  a  sudden 
departure  on  shipboard  for  Alaska.  We 
had  been  told  by  a  gruff  official  that  the 
Elder  had  been  telegraphed,  and  would 
probably  be  in  port  Sunday  morning  ;  that 
she  seldom  remained  in  port  more  than  an 
hour  or  two,  and  sometimes  she  did  not 
even    come  into  the   upper  harbor  at  all, 


72 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA, 


thus  saving  time  and  port  dues.  We  were 
informed  by  our  landlord,  however,  that  at 
whatever  time  the  ship  came  in  on  Sunday, 
she  could  not  leave  port  without  her  clear- 
ance papers  on  Monday  morning.  But  he 
was  not  an  official,  and  upon  which  should 
we  rely  ? 

A  full-blooded  Englishman  here  is  just 
as  jealous  of  Americans  as  it  is  possible 
for  him  to  be ;  and  he  cannot  see  what 
American  women  want  to  go  wandering  all 
over  the  world  for.  There  is  great  danger 
of  the  English  women  contracting  the  fever 
of  travel  by  so  much  touring  about  on  the 
part  of  the  Americans,  "who,"  he  maintains, 
"  have  no  domesticity  about  them  as  our 
English  wi  "^s  have."  Perhaps  the  Eng- 
lishman in  question  rather  enjoyed  the 
wholesome  potion  of  worry  and  uncertainty 
which  he  knew  he  had  given  us.  In  the 
evening  a  lady  called  upon  us.  She  had 
been  to  Alaska  and  seen  the  wonderful 
scenery,  etc.,  but  her  chief  recollection  of 
her  trip  seemed  to  be  that  she  was  not  per- 
mitted to  wade  into  the  water  and  catch  a 
twenty-four  pound  salmon  —  which  she  was 
sure  she  could  have  done,  lifting  him  out 
by  the  gills,  if  the  captain  only  would  have 


VICTORIA. 


73 


allowed  her  to  go  on  shore.  Others  did 
it,  and  why  should  not  her  ambition  have 
been  satisfied  as  well  as  theirs.  We  wrote 
home  letters  and  retired  hopeful  for  the 
arrival  of  the  Steamer  in  the  morning. 

April  22.  Morning  came  fair,  and  prom- 
ising a  fine  day.  We  listened  for  the 
boom  of  the  Elder's  gun,  but  heard  it  not. 
We  breakfasted  and  questioned  our  land- 
lord of  the  probabilities,  etc.  He  could 
tell  us  nothing  satisfactory.  There  had 
been  some  disturbances  among  the  steam- 
ship companies,  some  ill-feeling  about  fish- 
eries, smuggling  opium,  etc.,  of  late,  which 
might  operate  to  carry  the  Elder  by  with- 
out a  call.  At  all  events  it  was  well  to  be 
in  readiness,  etc.  We  dressed  ourselves 
for  the  voyage,  having  all  things  else  packed 
snugly  away  in  our  satchels  and  trunks, 
and  sat  down  in  our  room  to  await  a  call 
for  the  Steamer.  It  occurred  to  us  that, 
through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Valentine,  of 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  in  San  Francisco,  who 
had  been  of  great  assistance  to  us  in  our 
tour  of  California,  we  had  introductory  cre- 
dentials to  Mr.  A.  A.  Green  of  the  same 
company  in  Victoria.  In  our  uncertainty 
about  the  arrival  of  the  Elder,  we  decided 


Jf 


74 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


to  dispatch  a  note  to  him.  In  less  than 
an  hour  after,  we  received  a  call  from  Mr. 
Green,  who  brought  to  us  an  invitation  to 
lunch,  from  Mrs.  Green.  The  invitation 
was  pressed  with  so  much  cordiality  that,  in 
spite  of  the  inappropriateness  of  our  cos- 
tumes, we  accepted  and  went,  Mrs.  Green 
is  an  extremely  interesting  English  lady. 
She  has  six  lovely  children,  and  with  them 
all  we  had  our  most  delightful  expc 'ence 
in  Victoria,  It  was  now  Sunday  evening, 
and  no  token  had  we  yet  received  of  the 
George  W.  Elder.  What  if  the  ship  should 
fulfil  all  the  forebodings  which  the  gruff 
officials  had  implanted  in  our  minds,  and 
we,  in  consequence,  be  really  left  behind  to 
lament  our  disappointment  ?  We  sat  down 
before  our  blazing  fire,  the  only  bright  thing 
about  us,  mental,  physical,  or  material,  and 
began  to  write  more  letters  to  the  dear 
friends  at  home.  But  what  could  we  write 
to  them  ?  Such  an  atmosphere  of  doubt 
and  uncertainty  enveloped  us  that  we  actu- 
ally had  no  foundation  to  build  another 
letter  upon.  Consequently  we  began  to 
scribble  nonsense,  just  to  amuse  ourselves 
and  help  to  restore  our  minds  to  their  usual 
sanguine  condition.     The  George  W.  Eldef 


ON  BOARD   THl    ELDER. 


75 


had  become  a  kind  of  phantom  ship,  which 
yet  might  materialize  on  the  morrow. 

April  2 1.  In  an  early  wallc  before  break- 
fast we  learned  of  the  arrival,  outside  the 
harbor,  of  the  G.  W.  Elder.  Hastening 
back  to  our  hotel,  we  ate  our  breakfasts, 
and  took  a  carriage  for  her  moorings  two 
or  three  miles  below  the  city.  There  had 
been  no  opportunity  for  us  to  provide  our- 
selves with  tickets,  for  as  the  season  of 
excursions  had  not  arrived,  no  provision 
for  a  sale  of  tickets  had  been  made.  We 
went  on  board  carrying  a  letter  to  Captain 
Hunter  from  Mr.  Luther  L.  Holden,  of 
Raymond's  excursion  company,  which  by 
his  kind  courtesy  was  so  happily  expressed 
in  our  behalf  that  it  at  once  bespoke  for 
us  the  respectful  and  unremitting  care  of 
Captain  Hunter,  who  cordially  welcomed 
us  to  all  the  comforts  and  enjoyment 
throughout  our  voyage  that  his  kingdom, 
the  good  ship  Elder,  could  bestow.  To- 
day we  are  the  only  ladies  on  board  the 
ship.  Not  even  a  stewardess  goes  upon 
this  trip. 

At  10.30  A.  M.  the  Steamer  lifted  her 
gang-plank,  slipped  her  hawser,  and  gently 
gliding  from    her  moorings   at   the   pier, 


1^ 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


swung  her  prow  slowly  out  into  the  clear 
water  and  proceeded  on  her  way.  She  had 
come  to  Victoria  from  San  Francisco,  call- 
ing upon  her  way  at  I'ortland,  Oregon,  one 
hundred  miles  up  the  Columbia  River,  and 
was  now  going  south  to  Port  Townsend 
and  Seattle  before  steaming  northward  to 
Alaska. 

We  found  the  two  state-rooms  opening 
into  the  grand  saloon  unoccupied.  They 
were  freshly  upholstered  and  refurnished 
in  a  tasteful  and  even  luxurious  style.  We 
at  once  took  possession,  depositing  our 
wraps  and  satchels  and  arranging  gener- 
ally for  a  three  weeks'  voyage. 

We  arrived  at  Port  Townsend  at  two 
o'clock  p.  M.,  and  our  ship  was  made  secure 
to  the  pier.  She  began  immediately  to 
discharge  freight  from  San  Francisco,  and 
take  on  freight  for  more  northern  ports. 
The  crew  labored  with  great  expedition, 
with  others  upon  the  wharf,  to  store  in  the 
capacious  hold  of  the  Elder  immense 
quantities  of  lumber,  lime,  iron  tubing,  and 
empty  cans  for  the  salmon  canneries.  A 
large  sailing-ship.  The  Mexico,  had  followed 
in  the  track  of  the  Elder  all  the  way  from 
San  Francisco,  calling  at  many  ports  and 


ON  BOARD    THE   ELDER. 


77 


shipping  at  every  opportunity  from  her 
hold  to  the  Elder's,  endless  boxes  of  canned 
fruits  and  cabbages,  and  vegetables  of  all 
kinds  ;  groceries  of  every  description  had 
before  been  shipped  at  San  Francisco. 
We  could  not  help  wondering  where  such 
quantities  of  bulk  found  storage.  Toward 
night  I  asked  a  deck-boy  if  we  were  going 
to  stay  in  port  all  night.  He  replied,  "  No, 
marm  ;  I  rather  think  she  will,  though  she 
may  start  at  ten  o'clock."  This  illustrates 
the  definiteness  of  any  information  obtained 
from  the  ship's  crew,  and  shows  at  the 
same  time  how  little  they  know  of  the  in- 
tentions of  the  officers.  "Theirs,  not  to 
question,  but  to  do." 

Some  time  in  the  night  I  was  aware  that 
our  ship  was  in  motion.  The  moon  was 
shining  brightly  upon  the  water  and  I  re- 
cognized our  bearings.  We  were  on  our 
way  to  Seattle,  almost  a  day's  voyage  from 
Victoria,  and  steaming  away  from  Alaska. 
What  matters  it,  I  thought ;  we  are  afloat, 
and  shall  be  for  three  weeks  to  come  ;  the 
more  wc  see  of  this  beautiful  Puget  Sound, 
its  lovely  bays  and  shores,  its  enterprising 
ports  and  newly-flcdged  towns  and  cities, 
the    better    shall   we  learn  to  appreciate 


78 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


these  rich  and  wonderful  parts  of  our  great 
country. 

April  24.  We  arrived  a*.  Seattle  at  seven 
A.  M.,  and  after  breakfast  went  on  shore. 
We  called  at  the  "  Occidental,"  a  fine  large 
hotel,  well  furnished  as  a  modern  house 
in  every  respect,  but  evidently  not  large 
enough  for  its  patronage,  as  evidenced  by 
an  equally  capacious  brick  annex  in  process 
of  construction. 

We  went  into  a  large  book  and  stationery 
store,  where  we  found  a  great  variety  of 
stationery  of  all  grades,  all  kinds  of  gold 
and  stylographic  pens,  and  bric-a-brac  of 
endless  variety.  No  bookstore  in  the  old 
city  of  Boston  makes  a  larger  or  finer- 
lookiiig  display  of  all  kinds  of  literature 
than  does  tlis  in  the  young  city  of  Seat- 
tle. There  are  here  many  indications 
that  Seattle  is  yet  to  be  the  great  city  of 
our  Northwest ;  and  in  time,  it  is  possible, 
no  city  upon  our  entire  Pacific  coast  will 
excel  it  in  commercial  importance.  Its 
destiny  is  foreshadowed  by  its  matchless 
harbor,  its  nearness  to  Eastern  countries, 
and  more  than  all  by  the  enterprise  and 
far-sightedness  of  its  people.  They  build 
for  the  future. 


AT  NANA  I  MO. 


70 


At  3  p.  M.  we  were  back  again  at  our 
moorings  at  Port  Townsend,  where  we  took 
on  board  two  immense  iron  boilers  for 
northern  canneries  and  great  quantitie-  of 
sheet  tin.  We  left  port  in  the  night, 
passed  Victoria,  and  were  really  northward 
bound  for  Alaska. 

April  25.  We  awoke  at  Nanaimo  at  the 
booming  of  our  ship's  gun,  early  in  the 
morning.  Nanaimo  is  a  British  coaling 
port,  situated  on  the  east  coast  of  Van- 
couver's Island,  about  eighty  miles  by  sea 
above  Victoria,  with  which  it  hds  recently 
been  connected  by  rail,  which  lessens  the 
distance  to  forty  niiics.  It  is  a  very  pictu- 
resque town,  whose  importance  is  due  to 
the  extensive  coal  mines  which  arc  almost 
in  its  very  centre.  The  shaft  is  650  feet 
deep,  and  the  tunnel  exteniing  from  the 
b  '^tom  reaches  far  out  under  the  waters  of 
the  harbor.  We  watched  the  operation  of 
raising  the  coal  in  small  cars  suspended  in 
the  shaft,  and  saw  the  black  masses  brought 
to  the  light  of  day,  which  had  lain  hl'lden 
in  the  .secret  places  of  the  earth  beneath 
the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  for  ages, 
too  many  for  our  knowledge  of  such  forma- 
tions  to  number.     The  coal   looked  like 


8o 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


mineralized  leaf  mould.  It  is  a  good  fuel 
and  seems  to  be  a  medium  between  the 
bituminous  coal  of  Nova  Scotia  and  the 
anthracite  of  Pennsylvania.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town  are  all  more  or  less  inter- 
ested in  the  mines,  either  as  laborers  or 
agents.  The  owners  of  the  mines  are 
English  capitalists  who  live  in  England. 
The  profits  of  the  mining  operations  all 
go  to  them.  The  poor  miners  get  barely 
enough  recompense  to  keep  themselves 
and  families  from  the  ills  of  abject  poverty. 
The  merchants,  grocers,  etc.,  in  the  town 
seem  almost  to  share  the  same  condition. 

We  lingered  at  the  shaft  and  saw  the 
descent  and  ascent  of  the  miners  to  and 
from  their  labors.  They  went  down  a 
decent  clean-faced  set  of  men,  but  came 
up  hideous  with  grime  and  labor.  They 
all  appeared  cheerful  and  happy  ;  but  those 
who  came  up  from  the  pit  leaped  and 
hurried  along  their  homewird  way,  some 
bearing  no  fancied  resemblance  to  fiends 
ciKaK'!  from  p»irgatory. 

"Ue  went  ;«mong  the  homes  of  the  mi- 
ners. The  houses  were  poor  and  small,  but 
mariy  lA  tliem  had  a  flowi  r-b«;d  in  front, 
where  were  blooming  nearly  all  of  the  com- 


A  T  NANAIMO. 


8i 


mon  varieties  which  bloom  in  our  own 
gardens  in  June  oi  even  later.  Some  of 
them  had  been  in  flower  for  more  than 
two  months,  we  vere  told.  All  fruit-trees, 
except  the  apple,  were  in  blossom,  the  cur- 
rants were  past,  and  the  fruit  was  well 
formed.  One  lady  insisted  upon  giving  us 
a  large  clump  of  daisies,  which  we  admired, 
and  for  which  I  bought  a  tin  basin.  It  grew 
and  sent  up  more  than  twenty  lovely  blos- 
*(  ms  on  our  voyage. 

It  began  to  rain.  It  rains  so  easily  here 
that  the  sun  will  be  shining  one  instant 
and  the  next  will  bring  down  a  dash  of  rain 
which  will  drench  you  throjgh,  if  you  have 
not  taken  the  precaution  to  provide  your- 
self with  waterproof  and  rubbers. 

We  opened  another  gate  and  took  shelter 
under  a  broad  jjiazza,  where  lay  a  large 
brown  spaniel.  The  dog  gave  us  assurances 
of  welcome  by  a  lazy  blink  of  his  eyes,  and 
a  half-mind  to  wag  his  tail,  and  we  leaned 
against  the  house  to  await  the  passing  of 
the  shower  The  door  was  soon  opened 
by  a  tall,  pleasant-looking  la  ly,  who  invited 
us  into  her  parlor.  She  was  a  native  of 
Australia,  who  came  with  her  father  to 
Nanaimo  eight  years  before,  and  now  longs 


82 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


to  return  to  her  native  land.  '  We  took  the 
shortest  way  to  our  ship  after  the  rain  sub- 
sided, but  again  were  overtaken  by  a  smart 
dash  of  a  shower,  against  which  our  gar- 
ments were  proof. 

The  ship  was  still  storing  coal,  which  is 
delivered  in  her  hoki  for  JS7.00  per  ton.  It 
requires  three  hundred  tons  to  accomplish 
a  round  trip,  and  Captain  Hunter  told  us 
the  ili'p's  daily  expenses  were  $8cx), — a 
sufficient  reason,  I  suppose,  why  we  should 
pay  $100  for  our  passage,  making  good  the 
adage,  "  Those  who  ride  in  pomp  must  pay 
for  it." 

We  spent  the  afternoon  in  watching  the 
construction  of  a  deep-water  pier  and 
timing  the  divers,  which  were  floating  like 
ducks,  which  they  much  resemble,  all  about 
the  harbor. 

Mrs.  Dr.  Willard  from  Chicago  is  on 
board.  She  took  passage  at  Port  Town- 
send  for  Juneau,  where  her  son,  Rev.  Mr. 
Willard,  is  a  missionary.  She  has  been  so 
retired  and  quiet  since  she  came  on  board 
that  we  have  as  yet  hardly  formed  her 
acquaintance,  although  we  are  glad  to  know 
that  we  have  a  female  fellow-passenger. 

April  26.     Still  at  Nanaimo  waiting  for 


AT  NANAIMO. 


83 


a  pilot.  We  have  learned  that  a  pilot  is 
necessary  throughout  our  voyage.  There 
arc  but  two  or  three  good  ones  on  this 
coast,  and  delays  of  a  day  or  more  often 
occur  while  awaiting  a  returu  pilot.  We 
went  to  bed  last  night  and  were  lulled  to 
sleep  by  the  combined  harmony  of  falling 
coal  and  amateur  thrummings  upon  the 
piano.  The  full  moon  shone  brightly  at 
midnight,  but  the  morning  is  dark  and 
rainy. 

With  four  or  five  others,  we  have  our 
meals  at  Captain  Hunter's  table.  A  gen- 
tleman sits  opposite  to  us  who  was  one  of 
the  six  adventurous  explorers  who  went 
with  ProfesGor  Ilayden  into  the  region  of 
the  Yellowstone,  previous  to  the  explora- 
tion made  by  Professor  I  layden  and  his  com- 
pany under  government  patronage.  The 
first  exploration  was  made  in  1864,  long 
before  the  Yosemite  Valley  became  known 
to  tourists.  Mr.  Hammond  told  us  they 
were  ninety  days  wandering  about  that 
hitherto  unvisited  tract  of  country  without 
meeting  a  human  creature;  not  an  Indian 
was  sighted  in  all  that  time.  They  experi- 
enced no  hair-breadth  escapes,  and  the  most 
serious  misfortune  they  had  was  the  com- 


84  PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 

plete  saturation  of  their  sacks  of  flour,  which 
was  occasioned  by  the  slipping  of  the  mule, 
which  carried  it,  into  a  larjj;e  stream.  Mr. 
Hammond  had  made  four  previous  voyages 
to  Alaska,  and  was  extremely  kind  through- 
out our  passage  to  Sitka,  in  calling  our 
attention  to  many  wonderful  and  interest- 
ing sights  and  natural  features  of  the 
islands  and  coast  which  might  otherwise 
have  escaped  our  notice. 

One  minute  of  sunshine  and  the  next  of 
shower  is  what  we  are  told  to  expect  in 
this  latitude  at  this  season.  Toward  night 
we  had  a  shower  of  hailstones.  The  clouds 
and  the  water  were  wild,  and  both  swirled 
and  danced  in  response  to  the  strong  gusts 
of  wind  which  accompanied  the  shower. 
The  squall  subsided  as  quickly  as  it  came, 
and  the  sun  shone  out  brightly,  the  waters 
settled  into  their  customary  calm  as  if 
neither  clouds,  winds,  nor  hailstones  had 
ever  disturbed  it. 

The  old  porter  of  the  Elder,  one  of  the 
quaintest  specimens  of  a  jolly  old  English- 
man, a  regular  "old  King  Cole,"  came  in 
to  light  our  lamps,  i  asked  him  how  soon 
the  ship  would  leave  Nanaimo  Me  gave 
a  ready  reply,  "  At  half  past  ten  ma'm." 


mm 


LEAVING  NANAIMO.  85 

Then  with  a  sidelong  glance  at  me  from 
his  queer  little  eyes,  he  added,  "  I  don' 
know,  ma'm,  that  may  be  twelve  at  noon  to- 
morrow, ma'm."  The  information  was  so 
definite  that  we  concluded  the  pilot  had 
not  arrived,  and  went  to  bed. 

April  27.  When  we  awoke  this  morn- 
ing we  found  the  ship  as  motionless  as  the 
wharf  to  which  she  was  moored.  The 
pilot  had  not  come,  and  although  all  things 
were  ready,  in  fact  had  been  waiting  for 
more  than  thirty-six  hours  for  a  start,  wc 
were  compelled  by  regulations  to  await  his 
coming. 

We  fare  remarkably  well  upon  ship- 
board. At  breakfac*-,  lunch,  and  dinner, 
there  is  a  profuse  variety  of  well-cooked 
food  ;  never  a  table  yet  without  six  or  more 
kinds  of  meat. 

At  1.15  p.  M.  the  G.  W.  Elder  cast  its 
hawsers  and  we  departed  from  Nanaimo, 
after  a  delay  at  her  wharves  of  sixty  hours. 
Wo  went  out  of  the  harbor  in  a  delicious 
flood  of  sunshine,  and  under  a  cloudless  sky. 
The  scenes  of  quiet  beauty  which  had  in  a 
measure  compensatetl  us  for  so  long  de- 
tention on  our  voyage  were  left  behind. 
Should  we  return  to  our  moorings  to-mor- 


86 


PIC TURESQ UE  A LAHKA . 


row,  they  would  never  look  the  same  to  us, 
so  much  depends  upon  the  conditions  un- 
der which  one  sees  the  snow-capped  moun- 
tains which  rise  all  along  these  western 
shores.  The  play  of  lights  and  shadows 
upon  their  lofty  sides  and  summits  is  so 
capricious,  that  they  seem  constantly  to  be 
changing  in  their  aspect  as  we  voyage  by 
them.  The  same  is  true  of  the  water, 
whether  it  is  bluer  than  the  sky  above,  or 
cold  and  steely  gray,  or  black  as  ebony 
with  a  fitful  purplish  gleam  fiashing  out 
from  its  dark  depths. 

The  Coast  Mountains  rose  high  and 
beautiful  beyond  the  lower  heights  and 
steep  bold  shores  upon  our  light.  They 
were  all  more  or  less  snow-clad.  The 
atmosphere  was  clear,  and  the  mountains 
were  clean-cut  and  shone  like  crystals, 
shading  from  dai  k  blue  to  pearl  and  white. 
They  were  of  all  shapes,  but  the  peaked 
forms  prevailed  upon  the  continental  shore, 
while  those  upon  Vancouver  were  more 
wedge  and  dome-shaped  ;  not  so  high  or 
thickly  covered  with  snow,  as  the  stalely 
Olympian  Mountains,  which  they  some- 
what resemble. 

The  Coast  Mountains  were  exceedingly 


JOHNSTONE  STRAIT. 


87 


fascinating^.  Sometimes  their  snowy  sides 
would  be  soft  and  fluffy  as  a  ficecy  cloud, 
then  they  would  shoot  up  in  obelisks  and 
sharp  spires,  white  as  marble  ;  sometimes 
notched  and  jagf^ed  like  the  teeth  of  a  worn- 
out  saw,  then  pointed,  triangular,  and  regu- 
lar as  a  pyramid. 

This  succession  of  islands,  wooded  shores, 
and  unbroken  procession  of  snowy  moun 
tains  continued  upon  our  right  and  left  as 
we  passed  through  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  un- 
til we  came  to  the  narrow  passage,  John- 
stone Strait,  which  leads  on  to  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound.  This  strait  is  literally 
crowded  full  of  islands,  and  the  ship's  way 
winds  between  them  and  Vancouver's  Is- 
land for  many  miles.  Long,  narrow,  and 
intricate,  it  is  safe  only  to  experienced  nav- 
igators and  pilots.  We  arrived  at  Sey- 
mour Narrows,  the  entrance  to  Johnston, 
at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  tide 
was  ebb,  and  the  passage  all  the  more  dif- 
ficult. We  watched  our  progress  for  an 
hour,  upon  the  deck.  The  water  heaps 
and  swirls  in  swift  currents  and  whirlpools 
which  look  black  and  threatening.  Some- 
times the  fury  of  the  tides  pn»ves  too  much 
for  ihc  safety  of  the  vessel  in  their  cruel 


88 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


grasp.  Several  large  ships  have  been  over- 
come by  these  whirlpools  and  dashed  to  de- 
struction upon  the  hidden  rocks  beneath 
them.  It  is  only  at  the  entrance  of  this 
strait,  however,  where  the  passage  is  so  per- 
ilous. Our  ship  made  the  passage  without 
any  marvellous  incident  to  record,  but 
hardly  a  loud  word  was  spoken  upon  deck 
by  passengers  or  crew  until  we  were  safely 
through  it.  Captain  Hunter  told  us  that 
he  "  hardly  dared  to  breathe  throughout  the 
passage." 

This  was  the  first  time  an  iron  steamer 
had  plied  these  waters,  and  the  George  W. 
Elder  with  her  freight  drew  seventeen  feet 
of  water.  No  ship  of  over  nine  feet  draught 
had  ever  ventured  here  before. 

We  retired  and  slept  as  soundly  as  if 
"sailing  on  a  sea  of  balm." 

April  28.  We  entered  Queen  Charlotte 
Sound  some  time  in  the  night.  The  ship  is 
rolling  from  side  to  side  upon  the  heavy 
swell  of  the  ocean.  Still  the  mountains 
lead  on  in  their  continuous  march.  First 
the  brown  heaving  sea,  then  the  dark  low 
reaches  of  shrubby  islands  ;  next  the  hills, 
three  successive  lines  rising  one  above 
ajiother,   lapping  and    interlocking    their 


QUEEN  CHARLOTTE  SOUND. 


89 


deep  gloomy  bases,  and  beyond  and  high 
above  tlieni  all,  tlie  ever  varying  but  never 
broken  line  of  mountains,  grim  and  hoary 
in  the  gray  morning  light. 

It  rained  during  the  night,  and  dark  No- 
vember-like clouds  hung  over  the  moun- 
tains, casting  a  purplish  gloom  about  their 
lofty  peaks,  which  was  weird  but  fascinat- 
ing. White  mists  rose  from  the  dark  re- 
cesses among  the  hills,  and  swept  grace- 
fully upward  toward  their  summits.  We 
were  several  hours  crossing  Queen  Char- 
lotte Sound,  our  ship  bowing  graciously 
this  side  and  that,  all  the  while.  Upon  our 
left  was  the  broad  Pacific,  nothing  but  one 
wide  expanse  of  ocean  between  us  and  the 
continent  of  Asia.  In  spite  of  the  rolling 
of  the  ship,  everybody  came  to  the  break- 
fast-table and  ate  heartily.  Soon  after  we 
passed  from  Queen  Charlotte  into  Fitz- 
Hugh  Sound,  a  much  more  sheltered,  nar- 
row channel.  The  islands  are  so  near 
upon  both  sides  that  we  can  easily  admire 
and  study  them.  Every  one  is  planted 
upon  a  firm  perpendicular  wall,  which  rises 
but  little  above  the  urface  of  the  water  at 
its  flow.  How  'j'eci>  they  extend  into  the 
depths  below,  wc  cannot  know,  except  in 


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90 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


those  bays  which  have  been  sounded.  We 
are  told  that  these  passes  are  many  of 
them  measureless  to  the  plummet,  but  such 
numbers  as  fall  between  two  and  three 
thousand  feet  are  given  for  the  depths  of 
some  which  have  been  sounded.  The  wa- 
ter undulates  gently,  as  soon  as  we  come 
within  the  shelter  of  the  outward  lying  is- 
lands, and  our  ship  moves  on  with  a  steady 
and  stately  motion. 

We  had  Calvert  Island  upon  our  left, 
and  soon  came  in  sight  of  our  first  water- 
fall. We  were  all  delighted,  and  watched 
intently  its  rapid  pulsing  flow,  as  it  leaped 
wildly  down  from  steep  to  steep,  all  broken 
irto  foam,  from  the  white  mountain  top, 
three  thousand  feet  above,  to  the  sea  below. 
The  small  islands  are  numerous  on  the 
right,  and  a  large  coast  peninsula  sets 
down  among  them,  abrupt  and  high.,  pro- 
jecting its  sharp  headlands  into  the  chan- 
nel quite  near  to  us,  and  then  receding, 
narrow,  dark  inlets  reach  back  into  the 
continent  among  fir-covered  hills ;  while 
beyond  and  high  above  all  is  the  ever 
white  serrated  Ime  of  the  lofty  Coast 
Mountains,  always  the  same  mighty  bar- 
rier of  our  western  shore. 


■-  '•T-jmSf  H>J'>J  \i 


■ 


PASSING    THE   COAST  MOUNTAINS.      9 1 

The  waters  broaden  between  Calvert 
and  Hunter's  Islands,  and  we  saw  a  large 
whale  ocean  ward,  floating  like  a  great  black 
log,  sinking  beneath  the  surface  and  ap- 
pearing at  intervals,  until  lost  to  sight  by 
distance. 

As  we  passed  into  the  channel  between 
Hunter's  Island  and  the  continent,  a 
mighty  mountain  ridge  stretched  its  huge 
length  beside  the  shore,  ribbed,  like  a  gi- 
gantic mastodon,  by  sharp  ledges  of  gray 
rock,  which  extended  at  regular  distances 
from  the  line  of  its  high  humped  back  far 
down  its  sides,  marked  by  unbroken  drifts 
of  snow. 

The  mountains  now  come  nearer  to  the 
sea,  and  the  small,  low  islands  have  given 
place  to  mountain  peaks,  which  stand  upon 
the  water  above  their  submerged  founda- 
tions, and  bristle  like  sentinels  in  front  of 
the  loftier  range  upon  the  shore.  Many  of 
the  trees  are  blasted  and  broken,  but  be- 
tween their  stark  trunks  the  ground  is 
thickly  set  with  a  young  growth  from  ten 
to  fifteen  feet  in  height.  The  decayed 
trees  are  neither  large  nor  tall,  but  straight 
as  an  arrow.  The  soil  is  shallow,  the  trees 
attain  a  certain  growth  or  age,  then  die 


92 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


and  fall  to  the  ground,  their  places  being 
constantly  supplied  by  a  new  growth  which 
in  its  turn  follows  them.  The  ground  is  so 
strewn  with  the  fallen  trunks,  crossed  and 
piled  upon  each  other,  that  it  is  almost  an 
impossible  thing  to  traverse  it.  Halfway 
up  the  dark  side  of  a  mound-like  height  — 
whose  grizzly  level  top  no  doubt  enfolds  a 
crater  lake  —  there  shone  out  a  gleam  from 
a  waterfall,  leaping  down  a  high  precipice ; 
its  course  below  was  lost  behind  the  thick 
forests  about  it. 

The  gulls  are  numerous  and  very  social. 
A  stick  of  floating  driftwood  has  fifteen 
white  gulls  sitting  upon  it.  They  look 
much  like  a  great  string  of  pearls,  a  neck- 
lace for  some  sea  monster,  perhaps. 

We  often  see  the  pretty  little  quaker 
birds,  Mother  Carey's  chickens,  fluttering 
along  in  flocks.  There  are  several  sports- 
men on  shipboard  who  try  to  shoot  the 
flying  gulls,  wild  loons,  and  ducks,  all  of 
which  are  very  abundant  here.  I  hope  they 
will  spare  their  ammunition  upon  Mother 
Carey's  chickens,  in  defe-ence  to  the  old 
superstition,  if  nothing  else  will  prevail 
against  such  wanton  sport. 

Far  up  on   the  side  of  another    dark 


PASSING   THE  COAST  MOUNTAINS.      93 

mountain  are  two  white  waterfalls,  leaping 
hundreds  of  feet  from  one  steep  to  another, 
down  the  green  mountain  wall ;  now  hid- 
ing and  then  flashing  out ;  sometimes  like 
broad  white  ribbons,  when  they  flow  over 
the  smooth  surface  of  black  rock,  and  then 
curving  in  and  out  around  obstructing 
boulders,  they  bound  along  in  beautiful 
cascades  until  they  lose  themselves  in  the 
blue  waters  of  the  sea. 

Now  from  the  solemn  quiet  of  the  shore 
a  bark  canoe  shoots  out  upon  the  waters. 
It  glides  along  under  the  shadow  of  the 
firs,  almost  like  a  painted  boat  on  canvas. 
In  the  canoe  JX  two  Indian  fishers,  as  silent 
and  motionless  as  the  dark  trees  above 
them. 

The  day  thus  far  has  been  a  cloudy  one, 
white  clouds  have  settled  into  the  passes 
of  the  mountains  and  a  blue  misty  haze  is 
over  all. 

Now  an  immense  mound-like  hill  —  we 
should  call  it  a  mountain  in  New  England 
—  rises  from  the  sea,  wooded  from  base 
to  top  with  a  large,  thick  forest  growth. 
From  a  little  scooped-out  level  on  the 
shore  at  its  base  there  rolls  up  a  column 
of  blue  smoke.     We  try  in  vain  to  get  a 


94 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


glimpse  of  the  Indian  hut  from  whence  it 
comes,  but  it  is  too  snugly  hidden  among  a 
thick  growth  of  small  cedar-trees. 

Far  back,  towering  higher  than  any  we 
have  before  seen,  stands  a  ghostly  giant  of 
the  skies.  Nearer  are  domes  and  pyramids, 
peaks  and  roofs  so  joined  and  complicated 
in  their  arrangement  that  no  human  archi- 
tect could  decipher  their  angles  or  imitate 
their  combinations.  These  are  all  com- 
pletely and  densely  covered  with  stately 
evergreen  forests,  grizzled  with  frost  and 
snow. 

It  seemed  to  us  at  first  that  some  of 
these  mountains  should  have  definite 
names ;  but  now  we  realize  their  name  is 
Legion  ;  as  well  might  we  count  the  stones 
in  the  foundations  of  these  shores,  as  to 
number  the  mountain  heights  which  stand 
above  them. 

We  pass  between  a  succession  of  small 
islands  and  note  each  one  as  if  we  had 
never  seen  its  like  before.  They  are  alike 
in  many  respects,  yet  each  has  its  peculiar 
charm  and  some  distinguishing  charac- 
teristic. 

Now  is  repeated  the  last  or  previous 
scene  with    a    lesser  elevation.     Domes, 


PASSING   THE  COAST  MOUNTAINS.     95 

peaks,  and  gabled  roofs,  heaped  and 
crowded,  yet  each  one  individually  dis- 
tinct upon  its  own  portion  of  a  level  base. 
Every  one  uniformly  green  from  top  to 
bottom,  except  a  pyramid  which  stands 
upon  the  edge  of  the  shore.  This  is  an 
immense  mass  of  volcanic  rock  and  granite 
boulders  welded  together,  looking  firm  and 
hard  as  adamant.  It  is  of  much  more  re- 
cent origin  than  the  surrounding  heights, 
and  resembles  Muir  Mountain  near  Shasta 
in  its  color  and  general  aspect. 

At  11.30  A.  M.  we  approached  a  narrow 
passage  where  the  shores  upon  our  right 
and  left  seemed  continuous,  and  mountains 
greeted  mountains  in  friendly  grasp  before 
us.  Every  color  of  the  shore  departed  as 
we  made  the  passage  at  the  head  of  Hun- 
ter's Island  at  a  sharp  angle,  and  looked 
westward  across  a  more  open  sea  toward 
Bardswell  group  of  islands.  The  water 
was  a  pearl-gray  color,  and  beyond  it  was 
the  misty  purpling  blue  and  white  of  moun- 
tains piled  on  mountains  in  wild,  enchant- 
ing beauty. 

Again  the  shores  approach  so  near  that 
we  might  measure  every  stone  and  inlet 
of  the  sea,  among  their  mossy  fissures. 


96 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


Here  come  a  multitude  of  small,  rocky 
islets.  One  resembles  an  enormous  turtle  ; 
the  scales  are  black  stone  regularly  creased 
and  wrinkled,  and  polished  by  the  friction 
of  the  waves.  Upon  another  stands  a  great 
bald  eagle,  emblem  of  our  country,  yet 
these  are  British  waters.  His  white  head 
shines  like  a  ball  of  snow  above  his  dark 
gray  plumage.  He  stands  almost  as  erect 
as  a  man,  motionless  and  fearless,  not 
more  than  twenty  rods  away,  while  our 
ship  passes  by  and  leaves  him  undisturbed. 

The  rocky  edge  of  the  shore  is  notched 
by  small  regular  recesses,  just  wide  enough 
to  afford  safe  moorings  for  Indian  canoes, 
as  if  they  were  purposely  designed  by  their 
Great  Architect  for  the  conveniance  of  the 
dwellers  in  these  solitary  haunts  of  nature. 

At  12.45  we  went  upon  deck  to  look  at 
the  Indian  village  Bella  Bella,  which  is  a 
Hudson's  Bay  trading  post.  It  is  situated 
upon  a  cleared  space  of  a  few  acres  on  a 
small,  rounded  bend  of  the  shore,  and  con- 
tains about  seventy-five  frame  houses  and 
a  few  fish-houses.  There  are  some  very 
neat  English-looking  cottages  with  a  few 
small  gardens  in  front,  otherwise  there 
are  no  signs  of  cultivation.     A  little  dis- 


PASSING   THE  COAST  MOUNTAINS.     97 

tancc  beyond  the  village,  so  close  however 

as  to  seem  a  part  of  it,  is  a  burial-place,   ^ 

where  are  English  graves  noted  by  small   hi-d-'Ai^t    *^ 

marble  tablets,  and  among  them  are  the  ^(^<    /y^^  / 

graves  of   Indians  who  probably  had  been         j   WPfZL 

christianized  by  the  missionaries  stationed 

there. 

Across  the  Lama  Passage,  upon  the  goo-  ('•if't*^-^- 
tioent  opposite,  is  the  old  Indian  burial- 
place  ;  a  wild  and  romantic  spot,  close  upon 
the  edge  of  the  water.  Great  boulders  of 
fantastic  shapes  stand  all  about,  draped 
with  loose,  thick  mosses,  so  highly  colored 
and  mixed  with  various  tints  of  green  as 
to  challenge  an  artist's  cunning  to  repro- 
duce their  harmonious  combinations.  The 
trees  are  tall  and  sombre,  and  stand  as 
nature  planted  them,  where  others  of  their 
kind  have  stood  and  fallen  and  decayed  in 
the  ages  gone  before. 

The  chiefs  and  mighty  warriors  of  the 
tribes  are  cremated  after  death,  and  their 
ashes  are  placed  in  rude  boxes  and  then 
preserved  in  larger  box -like  receptacles. 
Sometimes  these  are  elevated  upon  posts 
planted  firmly  in  the  ground,  but  cftener 
they  are  placed  upon  the  ground,  and  al- 
ways near  the  houses  where  the  chiefs 


98 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


have  lived.  Rude  painted  figures  and  In- 
dian hieroglyphics  embellish  the  sides  of 
these  receptacles  and  serve  as  epitaphs. 
The  poor  and  despised  of  the  tribe,  or  those 
who  practise  witchcraft,  are  thrown  into 
the  sea  to  be  food  for  fishes,  or  left  upon 
the  land  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts  and 
birds.  They  are  not  considered  worthy  to 
be  burned. 

The  dead  bodies  of  the  Shamans,  sor- 
cerers or  medicine  men,  who  really  are  the 
controlling  spirits  of  the  tribes,  are  placed 
within  the  box-like  tombs  and  elevated  ten 
or  fifteen  feet  above  the  ground  upon  posts. 
These  funeral  boxes  on  the  shore  of  Lama 
Passage  were  doubtless  the  repositories 
of  the  dead  sorcerers  of  the  Bella  Bella 
tribes. 

By  the  aid  of  our  field-glass  we  could 
distinguish  the  grotesque  outlines  of  vari- 
ous hideous  combinations  of  brutes  and 
human  beings,  eagles,  crows,  beasts,  and 
frogs,  which  were  rudely  drawn  in  red  and 
yellow  paints  upon  the  sides  of  these  burial 
boxes. 

Upon  one  was  the  strange  figure  of  a 
creature  with  the  head  of  a  frog  and  the 
legs  of  an  Indian.     Another  was  curiously 


PASSING    THE   COAST  MOUNTAINS.     99 

crossed  with  red  and  yellow,  and  a  totem 
b^anl  was  nailed  to  one  side,  upon  which 
wjre  many  different  signs  and  images,  all 
significant  of  bravery  and  superior  power 
to  an  Indian's  understanding,  but  of  course 
they  were  Greek  to  ours. 

Captain  Hunter  had  no  business  at  this 
British  port,  other  than  to  receive  permis- 
sion to  pass,  which  required  but  a  few  min- 
utes,—  and  we  went  on  our  way  between 
the  wild  shores  overhung  by  mountains, 
some  blue  and  wood-covered,  and  some 
very  grizzly  with  forests  of  dead  trees  en- 
tirely divested  of  all  verdure  and  often  of 
their  bark.  These  dead  forests  stand  like 
useless  legions  of  condemned  creatures 
waiting  for  the  welcome  blast  of  wind 
which  shall  overthrow  and  lay  them  down 
to  their  decay. 

Now  we  pass  by  lovely  inlets  of  the  sea 
which  reach  far  away  among  the  passes  of 
the  green-walled  mountains,  and  call  to 
mind  the  shining  ways  leading  up  to  the 
"  Palace  Beautiful,"  which  Bunyan  pictures 
in  his  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 

The  northern  portion  of  Bardswell  group 
is  low,  and  the  winds  from  the  ocean  have 
free  course  over  the  poor  little  gale-swept 


■i 


lOO 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


isles.  The  trees  are  all  small,  of  a  pale 
yellowish  green  hue  and  much  broken  by 
winds  and  decay.  Some  of  the  smallest 
islands  have  scarcely  a  tint  of  green  upon 
them  excepting  that  of  the  thick  mosses 
which  cover  the  stones.  They  bristle  all 
over  with  dead,  branchless  and  barkless 
trees,  white  and  shining  like  quills  upon  a 
porcupine.  Small  islets,  desolate  as  the 
salt  spray  can  make  them,  are  fenced  all 
around  by  lines  of  driftwood  heaped  upon 
them  by  the  waves.  They  look  like  index 
fingers  emphasizing  the  general  air  of  deso- 
late wildness  of  this  approach  to  Millbank 
Sound,  which  we  enter  at  2. 1 5  p.  m. 

The  islands  shoreward  are  morQ,  and 
more  rocky  and  sterile,  and  now  they  are 
gray  and  hard  indeed.  The  ocean  beats 
upon  their  rocky  shores  and  dashes  its 
spray  high  over  their  pale  and  devastated 
forests.  The  ship  rolls  from  side  to  side 
in  the  heavy  swells,  and  we  suspend  our 
observations  until  our  advent  into  calmer 
waters. 

We  entered  Finlayson's  Channel,  and 
again  the  scenes  were  completely  changed. 
The  deep  broad  channel  flows  like  a  noble 
river  between  mountainous  hills,  densely 


IN  FINLAYSON'S  CHANNEL, 


lOI 


timbered  to  their  tops  from  the  line  of 
rock  at  the  water's  edge.  The  fir-trees 
are  green  and  vigorous,  covering  the  hills 
uniformly,  except  where  broad  surfaces  of 
black  slate,  perpendicular  for  fifty  or  a  hun- 
dred feet,  are  draped  with  many -tinted 
mosses  and  embossed  with  small  s'"  lely 
evergreen  trees  which  find  rootage  in  mjir 
hidden  fissures,  and  from  which  they  bend 
over  the  dizzy  steep  below.  dose  be- 
hind the  hills  rise  the  high  green  moun- 
tains, and  back  of  these,  far  higher  still, 
shine  out  the  snow-crowned  peaks  of  the 
inland  mountains.  From  these  massive 
green  domes  there  flow  down  lovely  water- 
falls. Some  shoot  downward  in  a  course 
almost  as  straight  as  that  of  an  arrow  from 
its  bow.  Others  curve  in  and  out,  hiding 
and  disclosing  themselves  like  flashes  of 
sunshine  among  the  heavy  shadows  of  the 
trees.  Now  there  falls  a  large  stream  over 
a  rock  parapet  upon  the  very  top  of  a 
mountain,  where  there  is  probably  a  reser- 
voir for  the  melting  snows  of  greater 
heights  beyond.  It  comes  foaming  and 
leaping  throughout  its  whole  course, 
straight  down  the  mountain  side,  in  beau- 
tiful   cascades,   and    rushes    with  a  wild 


102 


PICl'URESQUE  ALASKA. 


abandon,  as  if  in  haste  to  hide  its  buoyant 
life  within  the  solemn  cloisters  of  the  sea. 
Now  is  seen  a  multitude  of  little  streams 
which  streak  the  mountain  sides  like  silver. 
All  else  in  Nature  seems  hushed,  and  listen- 
ing to  the  dreamy,  wave-like  lullaby  which 
comes  from  the  "Voices  of  the  Waterfall." 

The  skies  are  still  leaden,  and  occasional 
light  showers  dimple  the  placid  -vater, 
which  flows  like  a  broad  river  between 
these  mountain  shores.  The  clouds  trail 
their  filmy  folds  and  almost  hide  the  white 
cascades  from  our  sight.  The  fascination 
of  this  northern  scenery,  whether  it  be  in 
sunshine  or  in  shadow,  is  so  absorbing  that 
we  try  to  see  it  all,  and  during  the  day 
there  is  but  little  upon  sea  or  shore  that 
escapes  our  observation.  But  there  are  so 
many  novel  and  wonderful  scenes  so  like, 
and  yet  so  unlike,  that  I  can  hardly  help 
repeating  similar  impressions.  I  try  to 
note,  for  the  pleasure  of  those  who  cannot 
see  and  enjoy  with  us,  all  that  is  marvellous 
in  this  inland  voyage  to  Alaska. 

Upon  our  right  the  mountains  part,  and 
a  dark  and  romantic  fiord  sets  up  between 
them.  Far  down  its  glassy  way  there 
stands  a  lovely  little  island  with   a   small 


IN  FINLA  YSON'S   CHANNEL. 


103 


islet  upon  either  side,  all  dressed  in  green. 
They  seem  to  rest  upon  the  dark  water  of 
the  fiord,  as  birds  fold  their  wings  and  float 
upon  the  sea.  At  the  entrance  are  two 
massive  mountain  pillars,  which  continue 
in  high  columnar  walls  upon  both  sides, 
far  up  the  fiord.  These  fluted  walls,  in 
the  clear  perspective,  diminish  in  height, 
approach  each  other  and  meet,  embracing 
the  lovely  islands  and  deepening  the  shad- 
ows about  them,  until  the  waters  are  black 
as  ebony.  What  looked  like  a  mountain 
pillar  resolved  itself  into  a  perfect  pyra- 
mid as  we  advanced  upon  it.  Its  sides  are 
so  thickly  set  with  firs  that  no  shaven 
hedge  ever  presented  a  more  unbroken 
surface  to  an  observing  eye  than  did  that 
majestic,  natural  pyramid.  It  was  a  marvel 
of  elegance  and  stately  grandeur.  As  we 
passed  by  it  we  took  a  backward  look  at 
its  wondrous  beauty,  and  we  beheld  it  a 
perfect  dome  in  shape,  with  no  sign  of  line 
or  angle  which  had  before  been  as  sharply 
defined  as  are  those  of  the  Pyramids  of 
Egypt.  This  we  called  the  Cathedral  Moun- 
tain, and  by  that  name  we  shall  always 
keep  it  in  memory. 

It  is  now  four  o'clock  p.  m.,  when  we 


I04 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


enter  a  narrow  pa«;sage  along  the  shore  of 
Princess  Ro3al  Island. 

Nine  o'clock  p.  m.  Since  we  came  into 
the  upper  half  of  Finlayson's  Channel, 
which  is  known  as  Graham  and  Eraser's 
Reaches,  we  have  been  treated  to  a  more 
wonderful  exhibition  of  mountain  grandeur 
and  beautiful  cascades  and  waterfalls  than 
any  which  have  preceded  them.  How  can 
I  describe  these  sights,  and  still  have  words 
for  the  greater  wonders  which  may  follow 
them  !  Happily  our  powers  of  apprecia- 
tion are  capable  of  infinite  expansion,  and 
we  have  been  able  to  meet  the  demands  of 
every  new  occasion  with  increased  enjoy- 
ment ;  but  words  have  their  limitations  in 
my  vocabulary.  Only  this  can  I  say  :  mul- 
tiply and  add  threefold  to  all  I  have  said  of 
the  former,  and  you  may  have  some  idea 
of  these  last.  They  have  been  more  glori- 
ously lovely  than  anything  our  imaginations 
had  ever  conceived.  Some  of  them  have 
swept  down  from  heights  of  3000  feet  and 
more  to  the  waters  of  the  sea,  but  a  few 
rods  distant  from  our  shij)'s  keel.  The  reso- 
nance of  their  fall  has  drowned  all  sounds 
belonging  to  our  ship,  and  filled  the  spaces 
about  us  with  their  musical  chimes  and  re- 


■) 
i 


> 


, 


■  f 


IN  FINLAYSON'S  CHANNEL.         105 

spending  echoes.  Some  we  called  moun- 
tain torrents  ;  and  some  have  spread  their 
waters  and  fallen  from  dizzy  heights  and 
lesser  precipices  in  successive  sheets  of 
g.iuze-like  beauty.  One,  far  toward  a  white 
mountain  top,  seemed  to  divide  and  double 
itself  backward,  like  the  graceful  loopings 
of  a  broad  ribbon,  then  it  united  again  and 
dropped  in  soft  cascades  until  it  reached 
the  last  steep  descent,  where  it  expanded 
into  a  broad  silvery  veil  and  swept  grace- 
fully down,  losing  its  whiteness  in  the 
deep  blue  of  the  channel  below.  This  we 
called  '•  the  bridal  veil."  At  another  place 
the  stream  flowed  out  from  some  mountain 
lake  not  far  inland.  We  could  look  back 
under  the  shadows  of  the  trees  drooping 
over  it  and  see  the  smooth  mountain  water, 
clear  as  the  crystals  from  whence  it  came, 
moving  silently  toward  the  ledgy  shore. 
In  an  instant  it  broke  into  a  feathery  foam 
as  it  dashed  over  the  uneven  surface  of  the 
ledge  in  many  lovely  cascades,  which  lost 
themselves  and  their  boiste-'ous  glee  in  the 
depths  and  silences  of  the  sea. 

Agiin  we  saw  far  up  toward  the  top  of  a 
high  mountain  a  fine  large  cascade,  prom- 
ising ..  .ui*ent  in  its  descent,  which  was 


il 


io6 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


not  seen  again  until  we  had  passed  around 
a  spur  of  the  same  mountain,  when  there 
came  the  full  cascade  from  under  a  perfect 
arch  of  intermingling  cedars,  and  with  one 
bound  it  too  leaped  into  the  sea. 

Were  I  to  number  all  the  waterfalls  and 
all  the  lofty  mountains  which  have  so  de- 
lighted our  eyes,  my  journal  would  be  filled 
with  repetitions  to  the  ears  of  one  whose 
eyes  have  never  seen  them.  But  in  our 
memories  they  remain ; 

"  A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever." 


IV. 


FROM   DIXON's   entrance  TO  JUNEAU. 

April  29.  The  morning  was  aark  and 
rainy.  The  shore  of  the  continent  was 
some  miles  distant,  but  through  the  mist 
of  the  falling  rain  we  could  witness  the 
constant  march  of  the  white-capped  peaks 
of  the  mountains.  Nothing  was  visible 
oceanward  but  the  wide  spaces  of  the  sea. 
Our  ship  was  strangely  steady  in  her  mo- 
tion, and  for  nearly  an  hour  we  glided  on 
through  the  gray  mist  before  we  came 
again  among  the  islands. 

We  were  approaching  Fort  Tongas,  hav- 
ing made  the  passage  of  Grenville  Chan- 
nel during  the  night.  I  strained  my  eyes 
to  see  Mount  McNiel,  near  to  Fort  Simp- 
son, in  British  Columbia,  which  we  passed 
in  the  early  dawn.  At  eight  o'clock  a.  m. 
we  stopped  before  Fort  Tongas,  the  south- 
ernmost white  settlement  in  Alaska.  We 
were   now  in  Alaskan  waters  opposite  to 


io8 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


Dixon's  Entrance,  at  which  place,  Captain 
Hunter  told  us,  we  were  but  ten  days  dis- 
tant from  Japan.  There  was  no  especial 
business  to  detain  us  here,  merely  an  offi- 
cial recognition,  as  we  had  come  through 
British  waters  to  our  own  again. 

Fort  Tongas  is  upon  a  peninsula  of  the 
continent,  and  has  about  a  dozen  small 
houses,  including  the  long  low  government 
building,  from  which  floats  "  the  stars  and 
stripes."  Business  accomplished,  we  took 
a  turn  oceanward  to  avoid  the  small  rocky 
islands  alongshore,  and  our  steamer  was 
once  more  rolling  and  ploughing  her  way 
throu^^h  the  heavy  seas  which  beat  in  at 
Dixon's  Entrance  from  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  rain  still  poured  down  upon  our  deck, 
and  there  was  nothing  but  the  wide,  wide 
sea  to  look  upon.  I  took  the  time  to  write 
up  my  journal  from  the  sketchy  notes  of 
the  previous  day.  Everybody  seemed  to 
recoijnize  that  it  was  the  Sabbath,  by  a 
universal  expression  of  drowsiness. 

At  noon  we  arrived  at  Tongas  Narrows, 
and,  through  a  short  passage  from  the 
open  sja  between  pretty  islands  and  the 
shore,  we  came  to  Tongas  Fish  Canneries, 
where  we  remained  several  hours,  taking 


TONGAS  FISH  CANNERIES. 


109 


and  delivering  freight  of  various  kinds. 
Here  there  is  a  large  board  structure  where 
the  work  of  canning,  during  the  salmon 
season,  is  carried  on  quite  extensively. 
There  are  several  small  dwelling-houses 
and  camps  about  it,  for  the  use  of  the 
laborers.  One  small  board  cottage,  pic-^ 
turesquely  situated  upon  a  little  knoll,  in 
part  actually  overhangs  the  water.  The 
study  of  foliage  around  it  is  delightfully 
charming.  There  are  small  green  fir-trees 
intermixed  with  low  shrubs,  some  bright 
and  some  dry  and  withered  ;  but  not  a  leaf 
or  dry  twig  of  any  kind  seems  superfluous, 
not  one  could  be  spared  from  the  lovely 
grouping  of  the  whole.  The  lichens,  upon 
the  stones  and  an  old  decaying  stump, 
with  their  soft  harmonious  tints,  are  so 
many  added  graces. 

Just  before  the  door  of  this  rural  cot, 
and  almost  hidden  by  the  thick  foliage, 
stands  a  totem  pole,  the  first  we  have  seen  ; 
but  not  a  real  carved  totem  pole,  such  as 
we  hope  to  see  farther  north.  This  one 
was  highly  decorated  with  painted  repre- 
sentations of  frogs  and  other  animals.  By 
the  aid  of  a  good  glass,  we  saw  the  frogs 
distinctly,  but  the  rest  were  too  much  hid- 


no 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


den  by  the  trees  for  us  to  discern  them 
cL-arly.  There  is  a  pretty  lake  behind  ihc 
seirlenieiit,  fed  by  mountain  torrents, 
which  I  s^w  hanging  like  white  streamers 
all  along  the  mountain  sides.  One,  like 
a  broad  web  of  white  silk,  hung  limp 
and  apparently  motionless  a  thousand  feet 
above  the  lake.  Here  the  salmon  swarm 
to  deposit  their  spawn  in  fresh  water,  and 
here  the  Indian  fishers  slay  them  by  thou- 
sands for  the  cannery.  They  gather  in 
such  great  multitudes  at  these  fresh-water 
outlets  to  the  sea,  and  crowd  so  thickly 
upon  each  other,  that  the  fishers  take  them 
out  in  baskets  used  as  scoops.  It  is  rain- 
ing, and  we  cannot  go  on  shore.  A  few  of 
the  gentlemen  have  gone,  but  the  majority 
remain  on  deck. 

Dr.'  Sheldon  Jackson,  U.  S.  School  Com- 
missidner  in  Alaska,  came  on  board  at 
Tongas  Cannery,  bringing  with  him  thir- 
ty-seven bright  Indian  boys.  They  are 
from  a  settlement  near  Tongas,  made  by 
those  natives  who  emigrated  a  few  years 
ago  from  Metlahkatlah,  B.  C,  to  Alaska, 
under  the  patronage  of  Dr.  Duncan.  We 
have  already  on  shipboard  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Chinamen,  about  sixty  cabin  pas- 


TOTKM    I'ULES. 


THE  METLAHKATLAH  INDIANS.       HI 


\ 


sengers,  miners,  adventurers,  etc.,  besides 
Mrs.  VVillard  and  ourselves.  Fort  Tongas 
contributed  to  our  number  a  custom  of- 
ficer, to  make  sure  we  carry  nothing  con- 
traband between  our  own  and  British 
ports.  Another  boat  comes  laden  with 
two  veritable  old  totem  poles,  which  are 
covered  with  a  green  mould  and  show  evi- 
dence of  great  age,  but  yet  their  grotesque 
carvings  are  well  defined,  and  legibly  in- 
form us  of  brave  chieftains  who  bore  the 
proud  titles  of  "  The  Crow,"  "  The  Bear," 
"The  Whale,"  etc.  These  old  totem 
poles  are  being  taken  to  the  Museum  of 
ancient  Indian  relics  at  Sitka,  by  Dr.  Shel- 
don Jackson,  for  preservation.  The  days 
of  totem  poles  are  over ;  for  as  the  Alas- 
kans advance  in  civilization,  the  old-time 
customs  of  their  tribes  are  abandoned.  A 
pretty  steam  launch,  "The  Astoria,"  is  ply- 
ing back  and  forth  between  our  steamer 
and  the  shore.  It  is  probably  the  govern- 
ment launch  stationed  at  Fort  Tongas, 
which  flits  about  among  these  wild  little 
islands  to  maintain  in  the  sight  and  minds 
of  the  Alaskans  a  sense  of  the  omnipres- 
ence of  our  great  government,  which  is  ne- 
cessary for  the  safety  of  the  white  people 
among  them. 


112 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


The  Metlahkatlah  bovs  are  the  sons  of 
those  Indians  who  came  into  southeastern 
Alaska  from  Metlahkatlah,  B.  C,  where 
they  were  rapidly  learning  the  arts  and 
customs  of  civilization  under  the  direction 
of  Dr.  Duncan.  They  lived  in  comfortable 
houses,  cultivated  the  soil,  and  dressed  like 
ordinary  citizens.  They  had  good  schools, 
where  their  children  were  all  taught  to 
read  and  write,  the  elements  of  arithmetic, 
and  such  other  branches  of  education  as 
would  be  beneficial  to  them  in  their  con- 
dition. They  were  also  taught  vocal  and 
instrumental  music,  and  some  of  the  boys 
were  good  performers  upon  the  piano  and 
various  stringed  instruments.  They  had 
industrial  schools,  wherein  the  various 
trades  were  taught  to  the  boys,  and  sewing, 
housekeeping,  etc.,  to  the  girls.  They  be- 
lieve in  Dr.  Duncan  implicitly,  and  no 
doubt  their  faith  in  his  authority  had  much 
to  do  with  their  advancement  toward  a  civ- 
ilized life.  The  authority  of  Dr.  Duncan 
in  church  affairs  was  somewhat  superseded 
by  the  sending  to  them  of  a  bishop  to  take 
charge  of  their  religious  instruction,  at 
which  the  Indians  revolted,  preferring  the 
authority  of  Dr.  Duncan  over  them  in  all 


THE  METLAHKATLAH  INDIAN"-,.       II3 

things.  They  were  in  such  a  state  of  in- 
SLiborJinati;)!!,  that,  fearing  to  witness  a 
loss  of  all  his  labors  among  them,  he  fa- 
vored their  desire  to  emigrate  to  Alaska, 
and  determined  to  go  with  them.  The  na- 
tives began  to  take  down  their  houses  and 
transport  them  with  their  other  posses- 
sions across  Dixon's  Entrance  in  their  ca- 
noes to  Alaska,  when  an  injunction  was 
placed  upon  the  removal  of  their  houses  by 
the  English  authorities,  upon  which  they 
deserted  their  homes,  and  all  departed  from 
British  Columbia.  No  sooner  had  they  es- 
tablished themselves  upon  our  soil,  than 
they  proceeded  to  hoist  the  American  flag 
and  declare  themselves  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  proud  of  the 
honor,  and  are  trying  to  maintain  their 
dignity  in  the  new  r61e  they  have  taken. 
Already  they  have  a  neat  and  flourishing 
village  ;  they  cultivate  the  land  about  them 
and  earn  for  themselves  a  good  subsistence, 
clothing  themselves  like  ordinary  citizens 
of  the  country  of  their  adoption. 

They  keep   the    Sabbath    scrupulously 
The  Metlahkatlah  boys  gave  ns  a  concert 
on  the  deck  of  the  Elder,  and  after  singing 
various  hymns  with  good  effect,  Dr.  Jackson 


114 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


asked  if  they  could  favor  us  with  some 
songs.  One  of  them,  the  son  of  the  Met- 
lahkatlah  chief,  replied,  "  No,  sir  ;  we  only 
sing  sacred  music." 

They  had  an  organized  band  of  musicians 
among  them,  but  as  the  instruments  upon 
which  they  were  accustomed  to  perform 
belonged  to  their  school.  Dr.  Jackson  bor- 
rowed several  pieces  for  the  voyage  at 
Fort  Wrangell,  to  be  returned  on  our  home- 
ward passage. 

When  the  totem  poles  were  landed  at 
Sitka  there  was  no  means  of  conveying 
them  to  the  Museum.  Dr.  Jackson  ar- 
ranged to  load  them  upon  some  old  wheels 
to  which  was  attached  a  long  rope,  and 
calling  upon  his  mission  boys  to  join  the 
Metlahkatlahs  —  numbering  in  all  one  hun- 
dred and  seven  —  he  ordered  them  to  form 
a  procession  upon  the  rope,  and  the  band 
to  strike  up  its  music.  The  boys  entered 
into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion  with  a  will, 
and  the  old  totems  made  a  sort  of  trium- 
phal entrance  into  Sitka,  and  were  taken 
to  the  Museum  and  placed  in  position, 
where  they  will  probably  long  remain  a 
spectacle  for  the  curious  and  a  memorial  of 
the  ancient  customs  of  the  native  Alaskans. 


A    WONDERFUL    SIGHT. 


US 


Past  four  o'clock  p.  m.  It  is  raining  fast, 
and  still  our  ship  lies  off  shore.  We  have 
left  a  squad  of  Chinamen  here  to  work  in 
the  cannery,  and  have  sent  on  shore  a  large 
amount  of  freight  for  the  carrying  on  of 
their  business  —  empty  cans,  sheets  of  tin, 
lumber,  and  provisions.  We  were  about  to 
leave  Tongas  Cannery,  and  the  finest  sight 
of  all  had  not  been  seen.  Upon  a  moun- 
tain, 3500  feet  high,  not  three  miles  distant 
from  us,  was  a  cataract  indeed.  We  were 
loaned,  by  Mr.  Hammond,  a  remarkably 
fine  glass,  the  use  of  which  contributed  in 
a  large  measure  to  our  appreciation  and 
enjoyment  of  the  wondrous  sights  of  our 
voyage.  By  the  aid  of  this  glass  the  cat- 
aract was  brought  so  near  to  our  obser- 
vation that  distance  seemed  literally  to  be 
annihilated. 

It  appeared  to  leap  from  a  huge  ledge, 
quite  near  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain, 
over  which  hung  an  enormous  bank  of 
snow.  Straight  as  the  course  of  an  arrow 
it  rushed  down  the  mountain  side  ;  its 
width  uniform,  and  about  fifty  feet,  until 
it  came  near  to  the  bottom,  when  it  wi- 
dened to  a  hundred,  it  might  be  more,  and 
in  one  broad  sheet  was  lost  to  our  sight  in 


ii6 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA, 


the  vale  below.  The  lake  which  received 
it  was  hidden  by  the  intervening  surface. 
It  is  but  one  of  the  thousand  beautiful 
sights  which  are  to  be  seen  in  this  "  Won- 
derland of  America." 

April  30.  We  arrived  at  Loring,  on 
Revilla  Gigedo  Island,  last  night,  and  cast 
anchor.  The  captain  had  on  board  freight 
for  thv,  Salmon  Cannery  and  Chinamen  for 
its  operation. 

Loring  is  not  so  picturesquely  situated 
as  Tongas,  but  it  is  by  no  means  wanting 
in  natural  attractions.  It  has  its  high, 
green,  and  snow -tipped  mountains,  its 
lovely  inland  lakes,  and  its  little  fleet  of 
islets  off-shore,  any  one  of  whi«  \  would  be 
a  marvel  of  beauty  in  our  eastern  waters. 

The  boom  of  the  ship's  gun  last  night 
was  a  signal  which  brought  out  several 
canoes  from  the  shore  to  greet  us.  In  one, 
occupied  by  an  Indian  and  his  boy,  lay  a 
large  salmon  weighing  fifty  pounds,  for 
which  he  demanded  one  dollar  and  fifty 
cents.  Our  steward  said  "too  much,"  and 
the  Indian  sat  motionless  and  waited  for 
his  price.  Our  last  look  from  the  deck  at 
night  discovered  him  still  loitering  and 
waiting  ;  the  salmon,  a  noble  specimen  of 


SCENES  NEAR  LORING. 


117 


his  kind,  was  in  the  boat.  A  gentleman  re- 
turning from  the  shore  presented  me  with 
an  eagle's  daw,  freshly  cut  from  the  "fierce 
gray  bird,"  which  I  shall  carry  home  as  a 
remembrance  of  Loring.  As  I  walked  on 
the  deck  early  this  morning,  I  listened  to 
the  sounds  which  came  from  the  mountains 
and  the  sea.  Far  up  in  the  dense  gloom 
of  the  forest  I  heard  the  shrill  scream  of 
an  eagle.  Along  the  shore  a  flock  of  crows 
or  ravens  came  cawing  from  their  roost- 
ing places  for  their  morning  meal  of  offal 
from  the  fishing-boats.  A  meagre-looking 
dog  was  before  them,  satisfying  his  hunger 
upon  the  fare  they  sought.  With  a  rush 
and  vigorous  flapping  of  their  wings,  the 
crows  drove  the  dog  skulking  to  a  house 
near  by,  and  then  leisurely  enjoyed  their 
feast.  Upon  the  other  side  of  the  ship  the 
gulls  were  lazily  flapping  by,  with  keen 
eyes  on  the  lookout  for  stray  crumbs  of 
waste  from  the  ship's  cook,  who  was  busily 
pounding  and  beating  in  preparation  for 
our  breakfast. 

Floating  cosily  along  in  pairs  and  squad- 
rons were  divers  and  wild  ducks,  and  an 
occasional  quack  from  the  latter  told  that 
they  too  were  in  search  of  a  morning  meal." 


Ii8 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


At  half-past  six  in  the  morning  we  weighed 
anchor  and  left  Loring  behind  us. 

Soon  after  breakfast  we  saw  an  Indian 
burial-place  upon  the  island  shore.  There 
were  small  boxlike  houses,  painted  white, 
and  about  as  large  as  the  winter  cover 
to  our  fountain,  and  one  was  surmounted 
by  a  cross.  These,  unlike  those  of  Bella 
Bella,  stood  upon  the  ground,  and  con- 
tained the  smaller  boxes  or  funeral  urns 
in  which  were  deposited  the  ashes  of  their 
dead  chiefs  and  braves. 

While  we  were  looking  at  the  graves,  a 
large  blue  heron  flew  over  from  shore  to 
shore,  his  long  legs  stretched  out  below 
him  as  if  he  walked  the  air.  A  great  bald- 
eagle  started  out  from  the  forest  on  our 
left  and  flapped  his  broad,  dark  wings  over 
our  heads,  toward  the  opposite  shore.  His 
plumage  looked  black  as  a  raven's.  A 
gentleman  near  by  us  remarked  "  he  would 
measure  nine  feet  from  tip  to  tip." 

For  the  first  time  since  we  left  Na- 
naimo,  we  saw  this  morning  a  level  bit  of 
country.  After  we  left  Loring  we  came  to 
a  tract  of  level  area  of  nearly  a  hundred 
acres  at  the  base  of  the  hills,  which  for  a 
novelty  were  farther  inland.     It  was  cov- 


IN  YAAS  BAY. 


119 


ered  with  a  growth  of  small  cedars.  As 
we  looked  out  over  it  we  mistook  these 
trees  for  a  rank  growth  of  Alaskan  reeds. 
Vegetation  here  is  so  full  of  surprises  that 
we  may  well  be  pardoned  for  the  mistake. 

It  was  the  only  glimpse  of  land  which 
might  be  cleared  and  cultivated  to  any  ex- 
tent, provided  the  soil  is  sufficient  to  sup- 
port vegetation,  which  we  have  seen.  The 
fir  and  cedar  trees  seem  almost  like  para- 
sites upon  the  rocks  from  which  they  rise. 
We  have  seen  them  nearly  a  foot  in  diam- 
eter growing  on  the  top  of  rocks  ten  or 
twelve  feet  high,  and  not  over  three  or  four 
feet  square  at  the  top. 

Dr.  Jackson  found  quite  a  large  tree 
growing  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  totem 
poles  which  he  brought  on  board  at  Ton- 
gas. The  pole  was  fifteen  feet  long  a..d 
about  two  feet  in  diameter.  Trees  and  all 
vegetation  here  must  draw  much  of  their 
nourishment  from  the  moisture  of  the  at- 
mosphere and  the  decayed  mosses  which 
seem  always  saturated  with  water. 

At  a  little  past  nine  a.  m.  we  again  cast 
our  anchor  at  another  salmon  cannery  in 
Yaas  Bay.  This  is  a  new  enterprise,  and 
we  have  brought  large  quantities  of  lumber 


I20 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


and  other  necessary  things  for  its  success- 
ful operation.  Yaas  Bay  is  another  recess 
into  the  mountain  coast  of  Revilla  Gigedo, 
north  of  Loring.  This  island  is  a  large 
and  extremely  mountainous  tract  of  our 
coast  country,  between  two  river-like  arms 
of  the  sea,  which  extend  upon  either  side 
for  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in 
a  northeasterly  direction,  flowing  into  each 
other  at  the  northeastern  extremity  of  the 
island. 

Revilla  Gigedo  is  entirely  covered  by 
mountains,  and  its  coast  is  penetrated  by 
numerous  bays  and  small  inlets  which  reach 
back  among  the  mountains  and  receive  the 
overflow  of  the  numberless  small  lakes,  the 
reservoirs  of  the  melting  snows.  The  en- 
tire coast  is  bound  by  a  band  of  rock  ma- 
sonry, which  in  the  regularity  of  its  forma- 
tion is  truly  wonderful ;  more  especially  in 
the  perfect  adjustment  of  this  rock  border 
to  the  innumerable  recesses  which  are  con- 
stantly occurring ;  every  angle,  ever  so 
small  an  indentation  of  the  shore,  being 
hemmed  in  by  its  unvarying  border  of  rock 
masonry,  not  more  than  a  few  inches  above 
high-water  mark. 

We  found  Yaas   Bay  to   be   the   most 


.' 


It 


IN  YAAS  BAY. 


121 


.' 


. 


charming  and  romantic  place  we  have  yet 
seen.  It  is  not  large  but  inexpressibly 
lovely.  The  mosses  grow  thick  and  soft 
above  the  rocks,  glowing  with  every  tint 
of  green  and  gold  and  umber.  Out  of  it 
spring  the  cedar-trees,  not  large,  but  lithe 
and  straight  as  Nature  can  produce.  Their 
foliage  has  a  peculiar  feathery  appearance, 
and  its  color  is  very  bright.  They  stand 
so  close  upon  the  shallow  soil  that  the  eye 
cannot  penetrate  more  than  two  or  three 
feet  within  their  gloomy  shades.  The 
mountains  rise  immediately  from  the  shore 
line,  with  no  inch  of  margin  or  foothold  for 
man  or  beast,  with  an  ascent  so  steep  that 
it  looks  to  be  perpendicular. 

The  trees  are  so  uniform  that  the  faces 
of  the  mountains  from  shore  to  snow-line 
present  the  aspect  of  a  shaven  lawn. 

In  some  places  these  mountain  walls 
are  perpendicular  to  the  water  for  one  and 
two  hundred  feet.  These  broad,  smooth 
surfaces  are  painted  with  mosses  of  lovely 
hues;  and  every  crevice  is  a  foothold  for 
miniature  cedars  which  shoot  up  and  spread 
their  feathery  plumes  against  the  dark  gray 
rock.  Nothing  is  raw  or  bare  to  the  eye. 
Nature  paints  and  drapes  everything  with 
such  a  soft  and  (^uiet  harmony. 


122 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


To  add  to  the  completeness  of  the  ro- 
mantic beauty  of  Yaas  Bay,  a  large  Indian 
canoe  came  out  to  us  from  the  shore  and 
remained  stationary  beside  our  ship  for 
some  time.  An  old  Indian  woman  carried 
the  laboring  oar,  another  younger  woman 
in  the  middle  of  the  canoe  held  her  papoose, 
wrapped  in  blankets,  on  her  lap,  with  two 
little  Indian  children  beside  her.  In  the 
prow  sat  a  fat  young  Indian  girl,  oar  in 
hand,  with  which  she  gently  and  not  un- 
gracefully moved  the  water.  Just  behind 
her  was  a  round-faced  Indian  boy,  whose 
oar  was  idle.  His  eyes  were  more  to  him 
just  then  than  his  hands  could  be,  he  was 
so  eager  to  see  all  and  everything  about 
our  ship.  I  took  the  field-glass  for  a  closer 
look  at  them,  when  the  old  Indian  with  a 
vigorous  stroke  turned  the  canoe  away,  and 
they  glided  out  of  range  of  our  glass.  She 
cast  a  backward  look  at  us  as  if  she  feared 
an  evil  eye  had  marked  them  all. 

The  timber  line  in  this  latitude  is  about 
2700  feet.  It  is  curious  to  notice  how 
exactly  that  limit  is  preserved.  The  great 
snow  peaks  and  spires  and  domes  stand 
sheer  against  the  blue  sky  in  their  immac- 
ulate whiteness,  and  look  down  upon  the 


MOUNTAIN  SCENERY. 


123 


crov  ding  hosts  which  clamber  and  cling  to 
their  rocky  sides,  seeming  to  say  to  them, 
"Thus  far  and  no  farther  shalt  thou  come." 
It  is  no  feeble,  scattered  growth  that  aspires 
to  reach  that  icy  barrier,  but  tall  and  stately 
trees  lead  bravely  up  the  heights,  their 
sharp  spines  bristling  and  fringing  the 
white  robes  of  the  mighty  giants  above 
them. 

Some  of  these  mountain  tops  are  bare, 
black  stone  which  stand  out  from  the  drifts 
of  snow  in  grotesque  shapes  resembling 
beasts,  and  birds,  and  heads  of  awful 
gnomes  and  demons. 

We  saw  four  great  towering  columns  of 
black  stone  in  a  continuous  line,  like  the 
fingers  of  a  hand  pointing  upward,  at  a 
height  of  40CX)  feet,  against  the  sky.  Their 
tops  were  heaped  with  cushions  of  snow. 
Their  sides  were  so  near  to  perpendicular 
that  the  snow  lay  in  thin  patches  upon 
them,  and  ridges  of  the  black  rock  stood 
out  like  ebony  in  strange,  weird  forms  in 
bas-relief. 

Our  ship  was  steaming  up  the  strait  of 
Revilla  Gigedo  still  farther  into  the  con- 
tinent, to  Burroughs'  Bay,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  off  from  the  usual  course  of 


124 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


tourists  to  Alaska.  We  were  approaching 
our  destination  for  the  day,  and  the  sun 
had  set  upon  the  dark  waters  of  the  strait 
and  the  mountains  along  the  shores.  Still 
we  lingered  upon  deck,  hoping  to  catch  a 
gleam  of  the  sunset  upon  the  far  inland 
mountains,  whose  lofty  summits  were  visi- 
ble to  us  through  the  broken  columns  of 
the  lesser  heights  along  the  snores.  Nearly 
all  had  retired  from  their  posts  of  observa- 
tion as  the  twilight  settled  deeper,  and  the 
shades  grew  black  upon  the  silent  waters. 
The  mountains  were  more  and  more  lofty 
as  we  advanced  farther  into  the  continent, 
and  we  began  to  feel  a  disappointment, 
when  we  saw  the  night  coming  down  upon 
us,  that  we  were  not  to  see  them  in  the 
light  of  the  setting  sun. 

At  length  we  caught  a  gleam  of  bright- 
ness along  the  farther  and  upper  edge  of  a 
distant  peak.  The  sunset  was  upon  its 
opposite  side,  and  our  position  would  not 
favor  us.  We  too  retired  to  the  warmth  of 
the  saloon,  for  the  evening  began  to  grow 
chilly.  It  had  long  been  sunset  to  us,  but 
I  kept  watchful  eyes  upon  the  mountain 
tops.  The  ship's  course  was  often  chang- 
ing, and  a  happy  turn  around  a  headland 


BURROUGHS  BAY. 


125 


brought  us  where  the  inland  mountains 
were  more  plainly  visible. 

The  topmost  pinnacle  of  all,  a  lofty 
height,  shone  like  a  golden  flame  against 
the  dark  background  of  the  skies.  The 
less  elevated  peaks  stood  in  gloomy  con- 
trast to  the  blazing  beacon,  which  swept  so 
high  above  that  all  who  saw  it  were  filled 
with  admiration.  And  yet  the  rising  and 
setting  sun  has  illumined  these  heights 
and  made  them  "  beautiful  as  the  gates  of 
heaven  "  throughout  the  untold  ages  of  the 
past. 

Gradually  peak  after  peak  and  dome 
after  dome,  and  at  last  all  the  white  moun- 
tain sides  which  inclined  to  the  west,  were 
aflame  with  the  glory  of  the  sunset.  Then 
came  in  view  a  long  range  of  mountains 
which  shared  and  bathed  in  that  golden 
flood  so  abundantly  poured  upon  them. 
The  scene  lasted  for  more  than  half  an 
hour,  the  course  of  our  ship  seeming  to  be 
so  ordered  that  we  might  behold  it.  It 
was  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  we 
passed  around  a  projecting  spur  of  a  moun- 
tain, which  seemed  almost  to  bar  our  pro- 
gress, and  going  through  a  narrow  passage 
we  entered  Burroughs  Bay. 


126 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


This  is  the  wildest  and  most  arctic  place 
which  we  have  yet  explored.  The  settle- 
ment contains  nine  small  huts  and  shan- 
ties and  a  large  new  salmon  cannery.  The 
waters  of  the  little  bay  are  deep  and  dark, 
overshadowed  upon  all  sides  by  what  looks 
to  be  an  unbroken  wall  of  lofty  mountains, 
green  and  solemn  at  their  bases,  but  white 
with  snow  and  ice  upon  their  summits. 

A  broad  but  shallow  stream  enters  the 
bay  at  its  northern  side,  winding  around 
the  base  of  a  mountain  from  a  lake  be- 
hind it ;  to  all  appearance  from  the  deck  of 
the  ship,  coming  a  full-grown  river  from 
beneath  it.  The  passage  through  which 
we  came  is  closed  to  view  by  the  overlap- 
ping mountains ;  thus  Burroughs  Bay  is  a 
bit  of  the  ocean  secluded  from  the  world 
beyond,  a  great  black  onyx  set  in  green 
and  silver.  It  is  so  deep  that  no  anchor 
has  ever  touched  k;',  bottom,  and  so  small 
that  our  ship  was  tcichered  at  either  end  by 
rope  hawsers  to  t!ve  trees  upon  its  banks. 

It  is  a  wild  and  canny  place,  so  remote 
from  civilization  that  the  Indians  have 
been  aggressive  upon  the  whites,  who  have 
presumed  to  invade  their  fishing  streams. 
They  claim  exclusive  right  to  the  fishery 


I 


BURROUGHS  BAY. 


127 


of  all  the  rivers  of  Alaska  ;  and  when  they 
dare  they  resist  any  encroachments  made 
upon  them.  A  posse  of  men  was  sent 
here  last  week  by  government  officials  to 
quell  a  disturbance,  and  to-night  the  chief 
offender  of  the  Indians  has  been  brought 
on  board  ship  for  trial  in  Sitka. 

At  eleven  o'clock  p.  m.  we  saw  a  fine  au- 
roral exhibition.  At  times  there  were  the 
merry-dancers ;  then  beautiful  iridescent 
arches,  which  spanned  the  north  above 
the  white  domes  of  the  mountains,  and 
threw  a  long  tunnel-shaped  blazon  of  light 
upon  the  waters  of  the  bay.  When  the 
long  streamers  shot  up  to  the  zenith  their 
reflections  were  like  shimmering  paths  of 
moonlight  on  the  water. 

Once  a  narrow  curtain  of  quivering 
light  waved  its  fluted  folds  across  the 
north  from  west  to  east,  and  left  no  sin- 
gle ray  behind  it.  The  lights  were  out, 
and  the  display  was  soon  over. 

Alay  I.  I  arose  at  four  o'clock  this 
morning  to  see  the  sunlight  on  the  sum- 
mits of  eleven  high  mountains  which  en- 
circle this  little  bay.  The  waterfalls  upon 
these  heights  have  scarcely  begun  their 
flow,  but  their  courses  are  marked  by  snow 


128 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA, 


and  ice  until  near  the  bottom,  when  the 
water  trickles  in  little  streams  from  be- 
neath the  frozen  cascades  above. 

One  great  oblong  mountain  lifts  its  level 
back  high  above  the  timber  line.  From 
the  thick  cushion  of  snow  thai  covers  it 
I  can  see  the  white  tracks  of  the  water- 
courses all  along  ;  they  are  so  numerous 
that  they  fringe  the  white  mantle  above, 
like  silver  cords. 

The  waters  in  these  inlets  and  channels 
are  very  deep.  At  Tongas  Narrows,  which 
is  not  more  than  one  fourth  of  a  mile  in 
width,  the  depth  is  2700  feet ;  at  Yaas 
Bay  it  is  1200  feet;  and  these  are  the 
depths  to  be  measured  all  along  our  way. 
"Yosemite  Valley  has  ceased  to  be  the  mar- 
vel that  it  was  to  us,  when  we  consider 
what  would  be  the  elevation  of  some  of 
these  mountain  peaks,  from  the  bottom  of 
these  straits  and  bays. 

I  recognize  that  we  are  not  voyaging 
here  among  islands  only,  but  rather  that 
we  are  exploring  the  vast  mountain  region 
of  our  great  northwestern  coast,  by  means 
of  these  marvellous  natural  roadsteads. 
They  reach  far  into  the  remote  silences 
and  solitudes  of  its  mountain  fastnesses  — 


^1 


BURROUGHS  BAY. 


129 


discovering  and  ranking  them  among  those 
other  great  wonders  of  our  land,  Niagara, 
Yosemite,  and  the  Yellowstone. 

We  saw  no  bird  fly  over  Burroughs  Bay 
this  morning,  and  heard  no  sound  but  the 
lonely  yelp  of  an  Indian  dog  upon  the 
shore.  I  felt  a  sense  of  pity  for  those  who 
seek  their  fortunes  in  that  isolated  spot.  I 
heartily  wished  them  success  in  their  labor 
and  offered  an  unspoken  prjiyer  for  their 
safety.  We  left  Burroughs  Bay  at  half 
past  six  A.  M.  on  our  return  toward  J-oring. 

As  we  were  in  a  wide  expanse  of  the 
direct  inland  passage  to  Alaska,  and  past 
the  entrance  to  Lorings  Bay  in  Duke  of 
Clarence  Channel,  a  gentleman  informed 
us  that  our  ship  was  hailed  by  a  fishing- 
boat.  Immediately  the  ship  slackened  her 
speed.  The  captain  was  evidently  satisfied 
that  it  was  no  call  for  succor,  and  the  ship 
sprang  to  his  bidding  and  regained  her  lost 
speed.  The  man  in  the  boat  rose  from  his 
oars  and  cried  out  lustily  for  "the  Cap- 
tain," with  no  response ;  then  he  cried  for 
"  the  Mate  "  — -and  still  no  answer. 

Our  ship  had  ploughed  ahead,  and  the 
man  swung  his  arms  frantically  about  and 
shouted  as  his  boat  fell  back  into  the  wake 


I30 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


of  the  ship :  "  Throw  a  line !  throw  a 
line  ! "  Red  in  the  face,  and  still  loudly 
shouting  "  throw  a  line,"  he  dropped  some 
way  behind  us,  when  a  passenger  remarked* 
"  The  man  is  insane,"  and  we  all  expected 
to  see  him  leap  into  the  sea  and  perish 
before  our  eyes  in  a  vain  attempt  to  reach 
the  ship.  The  captain  relented,  and  the 
ship  faltered  as  if  weighing  a  doubt  and  at 
last  stood  quietly  awaiting  the  approach  of 
the  boat.  There  was  a  boatman  at  tbo 
bow,  and  both  men  plied  their  oars  with  a 
will  against  time  and  tide,  and  soon  came 
alongside  the  ship. 

The  man  who  had  so  frantically  hailed 
and  gesticiilated  sprang  up  the  side  of  our 
ship  like  a  cat,  and  took  passage  from  Lor- 
ing  fisheries  to  Kasaan,  while  his  compan- 
ion, the  Indian  boatman,  rowed  away  alone. 
Finding  that  he  had  been  left  behind,  his 
determined  spirit  was  equal  to  the  mishap, 
and  the  fisherman  "  had  his  will." 

Whenever  we  approach  a  settlement 
where  we  are  to  call  and  anchor,  the  ship 
fires  a  gun  and  blows  a  sonorous  blast  from 
the  engine's  whistle,  and  we  always  listen 
for  the  echoes.  These  vary  greatly  in  dif- 
ferent places.     Some  are  harsh  and  crack- 


KASAAN  BAY. 


131 


ling,  as  if  the  ship  were  exploding  about  us ; 
others  ra**^le  back  and  forth  from  hill  to 
mountain,  like  quick  reports  of  musketry. 

At  Yaas  Bay  there  was  a  startling  echo 
from  the  mighty  monarchs  which  sur- 
round it.  They  tossed  the  heavy  sound 
back  and  forth  with  the  force  and  reso- 
nance of  the  athletes  that  they  are. 

As  we  approached  Kasaan  we  were  told 
by  Captain  Hunt-jr  to  look  out  for  the 
echo,  for  he  had  loaded  the  gun  with  a 
double  charge  for  our  benefit. 

Kasaan  is  an  Indian  village  at  the  head 
of  Kasaan  Bay,  an  inlet  into  Prince  of 
Wales  Island  which  reaches  quite  halfvay 
across  it  toward  its  western  shore.  It  is 
these  voyages  inland  which  have  given  us 
an  opportunity  to  know  so  much  more  of 
the  general  configuration  of  these  coasts 
and  mountains  than  we  could  possibly  ob- 
tain in  the  ordinary  tourist's  voyage  to 
Alaska.  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  although 
mountainous,  does  not  present  to  us  such 
scenes  of  lofty  grandeur  as  those  nearer  to 
the  continent,  and  there  is  a  diffeicnce  in 
their  shores.  Although  this  island  is  walled 
about  with  the  same  firm  masonry,  yet 
there  is  a  margin  between  it  and  the  hills 


132 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


and  mountains.  Upon  these  level  spaces 
the  Indians  cultivate  potatoes,  not  only  for 
their  own  use,  but  for  markets  on  other  is- 
lands and  in  northern  towns.  The  Indians 
all  along  the  coast  of  Alaska  are  Thlin- 
kets,  but  those  upon  Prince  of  Wales  take 
the  rjecial  name  of  Hydah  Indians.  They 
are  a  nous  and  really  ingenious  peo- 
ple, not  J  low  and  brutal  in  their  aspect 
as  are  those  of  our  more  eastern  and 
southern  territories.  They  are  shrewd 
traders  and  inveterate  smugglers.  They 
look  much  like  the  Japanese  and  possess 
many  of  their  characteristics.  Those  who 
have  studied  them,  and  know  them  best, 
assert  that  they  are  a  different  race  of  be- 
ings from  those  Indians  who  were  found  in 
the  eastern  portions  of  our  country,  and 
express  no  doubt  of  their  descent  from 
oriental  ancestors. 

We  passed  the  house  of  the  Hydah 
chief  before  we  reached  anchorage  in  Kas- 
saan.  It  was  about  fifty  by  forty  feet  up- 
on the  ground,  with  the  end  toward  the 
shore,  in  which  was  a  door  with  two  win- 
dows upon  each  side,  under  the  gable  of  a 
low  pitched  roof.  Before  the  door  was  a 
tall  totem  pole,  cai'ved  with  the  symbols  of 


1 


KASAAN  BAY. 


133 


his  fame  and  dignity.  There  were  various 
other  smaller  buildings  scattered  about  ir- 
regularly, which  gave  an  air  of  consequence 
to  the  whole  place.  The  old  chief  is  re- 
ported to  be  worth  ;^  12,000. 

We  came  to  anchor  before  the  salmon 
salting  works  of  the  Baroness  Baronoff. 
The  larger  Hydah  village  is  hidden  from 
us  by  a  grove  of  tall  fir-trees  about  half  a 
mile  distant.  As  we  a,  jroached  this  little 
village  of  Kasaan  the  gun  belched  forth  its 
double  charge,  and  three  deep  rolling  in- 
tonations slowly  reverberated  from  moun- 
tain side  to  mountain  side,  like  the  heavy 
mutterings  which  follow  the  bolts  in  a 
terrific  thunder-storm. ^ 

1  Kasaan  Bay,  May  i,  1888. 

We  listened  to  the  echo  — 

The  echo  of  Kasaan  ; 
From  mountain  answering  p'iOuntain 

The  diapason  ran, 
Like  the  roll  of  deep-toned  thunder 

In  the  dark  and  angry  sky, 
When  the  heavens  are  rent  asunder, 

And  the  red-bolts  downward  fly. 

There  are  voices  in  the  echo  — 

The  echo  of  Kasaan, 
Which  fall  with  awful  majesty 

On  the  startled  ear  of  man. 


^tiife'wa^TMneii'*-  ir^  - 


■■Ml 


134  PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 

We  anchored  at  twelve  m.,  and  after 
lunch  accepted  an  invitation  from  Captain 
Hunter  to  go  on  shore. 

The  whole  place  is  owned  by  an  Indian 
woman,  whom  they  call  the  Baroness  of 
Baronoff.  She  lives  here  with  an  Indian 
husband  and  her  descendants,  and  rents 
the  salting  works  to  the  man  who  took 
passage  with  us  in  mid  ocean,  some  hours 
before.  During  the  Russian  rule  in  this 
northwest  she  was  the  wife  of  Baron  Ba- 
ronoff, and  one  of  his  children  was  among 
the  group  of  natives  who  received  us  upon 
the  rude  piazza  of  her  "  palace."  We 
wandered  about  among  the  log  houses  and 
board  shanties,  about  a  dozen  in  number, 
and  went  behind  the  salting  works  to  see 
the  small  stream  which  there  found  en- 
Like  the  voices,  long  imprisoned, 

Of  the  great  primeval  strife, 
When  the  mountains  were  uplifted 
And  sprang  to  light  and  life. 

As  our  brave  gun  roused  the  echo  — 

The  echo  of  Kasaan, 
The  haughty  Hydah  chieftain, 

With  all  his  swarthy  clan, 
Knew  well  the  stately  ship,  which  came 

In  friendship  to  their  shore, 

To  wrong  and  strife  and  savage  rites 

A  deadly  menace  bore. 

C.  C.  J. 


KASAAN  BAY. 


135 


trance  to  the  bay,  and  up  which  the  sal- 
mon swarm  in  countless  numbers  at  the 
spawning  season.  There  we  found  an  old 
Indian  sitting  before  his  door. 

He  sat  cross-legged  upon  a  mat,  wrapped 
in  his  blanket,  and  looked  much  like  a 
rolling  Dutch  toy  greatly  magnified.  His 
eyes  were  closed,  and  his  broad,  brown 
face  was  dull  and  heavy  under  his  long 
and  straight  black  hair.  Altogether  we 
thought  him  an  unsightly  specimen  of  his 
tribe.  He  told  us  he  was  blind,  and  that 
his  name  was  Paul  Jones.  In  answer  to 
questions  he  informed  us  his  blindness  was 
the  result  of  smallpox  thirty-five  years  be- 
fore. Unlike  an  Indian,  he  talked  volubly 
and  begged  for  money  to  buy  tobacco,  and 
asked  if  we  would  buy  a  mat  of  him.  He 
rose  slowly  from  his  mat,  exposing  his 
naked  limbs  beneath  his  blanket  as  he  did 
so;  they  told  no  tale  of  lack  of  nourish- 
ment. We  decHned  to  enter  his  cabin 
with  him,  but  others  went  in.  Through 
the  open  door  we  saw  a  bright  fire  of 
sticks  crossed  like  cobs  upon  stones  on  the 
bare  ground  in  the  middle  of  the  square 
inclosure.  An  idiotic  child  was  crawling 
about  the  fire,  and  —  the  rest  is  all  to  be 


136 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


guessed  at  and  not  described.  As  the  old 
man  unioUed  his  bark  mat,  the  child  took 
the  opportunity  to  crawl  out  of  the  open 
door  and  away  as  fast  as  its  deformity 
would  permit. 

As  we  turned  away,  Dr.  Jackson  told  us 
that  Paul  Jones  lost  his  eyes  to  satisfy  the 
revenge  of  some  white  sailors.  He  was  a 
pilot  in  these  waters  and  wrecked  a  trad- 
ing boat  purposely,  that  his  people  might 
share  with  him  in  its  plunder.  The  sail- 
ors became  suspicious  of  him,  and  finding 
he  was  about  to  repeat  the  crime,  they 
seized  him  and  burned  out  his  eyes. 

At  the  house  of  the  baroness,  among  the 
group  of  natives,  were  six  little  children,  as 
pretty  and  bright-looking  as  the  average 
children  in  a  laboring  community,  and  as 
neatly  clad.  One  little  boy  named  Felix, 
who  was  grandson  to  the  Baron  Baronoff, 
was  very  pretty.  The  baroness  that  was, 
is  an  intelligent  woman  ;  under  some  cir- 
cumstances she  would  compare  very  favor- 
ably with  the  working  women  on  the  re- 
mote farms  in  Vermont  and  New  Hamp- 
shire. Her  daughter,  also  the  daughter  of 
the  Russian  baron,  had  but  little  of  the 
Indian   in    her  looks.     She  was  tall  and 


FORT  WRANGELL. 


137 


slender,  and  her  two  little  boys  were  very 
pretty  children.  The  older,  Felix,  had  soft 
auburn  hair,  and  the  younger  had  a  straight 
Russian  face. 

We  entered  the  lighter  and  returned  to 
our  ship  in  a  gentle  drizzle  of  rain,  which 
conies  down  so  easily  and  unexpectedly 
here,  that  we  are  getting  quite  accustomed 
to  it. 

At  four  o'clock  p.  m.  we  are  off  again 
toward  Duke  of  Clarence  Sound,  whence 
we  shall  turn  our  course  northward  toward 
Fort  Wrangell.  Mountains  line  the  coasts 
of  islands  upon  both  sides  ;  some  are  near, 
and  some,  seen  through  the  mists  which 
settle  about  them,  are  like  phantom  shapes. 
All  are  wooded,  not  lofty  enough  to  rise 
above  the  timber  limit,  but  all  are  grizzled 
with  the  snow  which  lies  thick  upon  their 
tops.  Occasionally  we  saw  white  peaks 
far  inland,  and  oftentimes  were  undecided 
whether  they  were  clouds  or  snow-clad 
mountains,  until  a  turn  of  the  ship's  course 
would  bring  them  into  better  view,  when 
we  seldom  failed  to  identify  them  all  as 
links  continuous  in  the  grand  chain  of 
everlasting  hills  which  binds  these  count- 
less  islands   and  peninsulas  of  the  conti- 


138 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


nent  in  one  great  brotherhood.     "  All 


are 


but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole." 

May  2.  I  was  aroused  by  the  salute  of 
our  ship  in  the  night,  and  found  soon  after 
that  she  was  motionless  at  the  pier  at  Fort 
Wrangell. 

It  was  raining  fast,  and  I  failed  to  "  rise 
upon  the  occasion,"  but  lay  in  bed  until 
past  four  o'clock.  Fort  Wrangell  is  the 
largest  place  we  have  seen  since  we  left 
Nanaimo.  The  village  is  mostly  occupied 
by  the  Stickeens.  We  are  told  there  are 
nine  white  ladies  at  Wrangell  and  but  a 
few  more  gentlemen.  There  is  a  govern- 
ment house  very  much  resembling  an  old- 
time  New  England  country  tavern,  with  a 
square  hip  roof  and  broad  piazza,  and  the 
national  flag  floating  over  it.  The  houses 
are  all  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  they  never 
were  painted,  and  most  of  them  are  built 
of  logs.  I  observed  that  the  chief's  house, 
however,  is  an  exception,  and  a  few  of  the 
pickets  about  the  burial  places  show  signs 
of  having  once  received  a  coat  of  red  or  yel- 
low paint.  In  the  most  pretentious  of  their 
houses  they  build  their  fires  upon  stones 
on  the  ground  in  the  centre  of  its  single 
apartment.     Above  it  is  a  square  hole  in 


FORT  WRANGELL. 


139 


the  roof,  for  the  escape  of  smoke,  which 
is  sometimes  partially  covered  by  boards, 
making  a  kind  of  boxlike  excrescence  for 
a  chimney. 

A  fat  old  woman,  wrapped  in  her  blanket, 
sat  upon  the  ground  beside  one  of  these 
squalid,  dirty  huts,  and  watched  us  quite  as 
curiously  as  we  did  her. 

Upon  a  sharp  little  knoll,  standing  out 
into  the  sea,  were  several  very  time-worn 
old  structures,  ten  by  fifteen  eet  in  size, 
with  roofs  and  vent-holes  above.  These 
contained  the  bodies  of  their  departed  sha- 
mams  or  medicine  men,  who  are  never 
burned  or  buried,  but  are  placed  to  moul- 
der in  these  tomb-like  buildings.  Every 
house  of  consequence  had  its  totem  pole 
before  it. 

We  left  Fort  Wrangell  at  six  a.  m.,  tak- 
ing a  westward  course,  back  to  Clarence 
Channel.  The  day  came  on  cold  and  rainy, 
with  prospect  of  a  more  severe  storm. 

Our  most  direct  course  to  Juneau,  the 
next  objective  port  of  entry,  lay  northward 
through  Wrangell  Strait.  This  passage  is 
a  rough  one,  and  often  perilous  in  a  storm. 
Captain  Hunter  chose  a  longer  and  a  safer 
route,  westward  through  Duke   Clarence 


140 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


Channel,  between  Prince  of  Wales  and 
Kuprianoff  Islands  ;  thence  southwest  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  around  the  south  side 
of  Coronation  Island,  which  latter  is  the 
southernmost  of  that  singular  mountainous 
archipelago,  really  a  partially  submerged 
portion  of  Koo  Island. 

After  rounding  Coronation  Island  our 
ship  encountered  the  full  force  of  the 
ocean  swells,  and  she  rolled  and  swayed 
about  in  a  manner  quite  offensive  to  weak 
digestion.  Many  of  our  passengers  devel- 
oped a  lack  of  appetite  at  lunch,  and  many 
retired,  v/hile  they  could  do  so  creditably 
to  their  dignity,  avoiding  rather  than  com- 
bating the  effect  of  the  heavy  seas.  At 
twelve  M.  we  were  directly  off  Coronation 
Island. 

A  lovelier  mountain  I  never  saw.  It 
rose  from  the  sea  like  a  high  table-land  ; 
its  surface  shining  with  points  and  planes 
like  a  magnificent  and  gigantic  block  of 
crystal  qi  artz.  It  seemed  to  float  uoon  the 
glacier  Ike  green  water.  Its  color  at  the 
base  was  a  deep  dark  blue,  which  shaded 
above  to  lighter  tints  encased  and  tipped 
with  snow  and  ice.  I  saw  it  through  the 
mist  of  rain  ;  what  must  be  its  appearance 


CAPE  OMMANY. 


141 


in  the  clear  light  of  the  sun,   I  may  im- 
agine,  but  never  realize. 

In  turning  our  course  northward  into 
Christian  Sound,  our  ship  cut  the  waves  at 
right  angles,  and  resumed  her  usual  steady 
motion,  a  relief  to  everybody  on  board. 
We  sighted  Cape  Ommany,  the  southern 
extremity  of  Baronoff  Island,  where  Lieu- 
tenant Schwatka  informs  us  that  it  rains 
eight  days  in  the  week. 

At  six  p.  M.  we  are  going  northward  off 
the  east  coast  of  Baronoff  Island.  The 
strong  swells  of  the  ocean  are  behind  us, 
and  our  ship  moves  onward  responsive  to 
the  powerful  strokes  of  her  propeller, 
which  like  the  regular  throbs  of  a  great 
heart  gives  the  only  motion  of  which  I  am 
conscious. 

At  seven  p.  m.  our  course  bends  east- 
ward between  Koo  Island  to  the  south 
and  Murder  Cove  jn  Admiralty  Island  to 
the  north  of  us.  Here  we  enter  Prince 
Frederic  Sound,  where  we  have  a  fine  open 
sea  to  navigate,  with  many  isolated  moun- 
tain isles,  but  none  in  the  way  of  our  prog- 
ress. Halfway  over  the  Sound,  we  began 
to  see  the  white  peaks  of  the  continent 
showing    ghostly    against    the  still   gray 


142 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


skies.  They  soon  materialized  into  a  long 
line  of  gigantic  snowy  mountains,  blue  and 
steely  where  the  icy  glaciers  shone  out 
among  the  great  white  drifts. 

As  we  slowly  swung  to  a  northerly 
course,  we  watched  the  long  procession  of 
mountain  following  mountain,  with  their 
rivers  of  ice  flowing  down  between  them 
to  the  sea  until  the  long  twilight  deepened 
into  night.  One  glacier  lay  between  sev- 
eral mountains  whose  angles  opened  to  the 
sea.  It  looked  like  a  vast  frozen  river  of 
clear  blue  ice,  not  level  like  smoothly  flow- 
ing water,  but  more  like  what  the  rapids  of 
Niagara  would  be  were  they  instantly  con- 
gealed and  suspended  betwixt  their  shcwes, 
motionless  forever. 

May  3.  We  retired  early  last  night,  and 
being  unusually  wakeful,  I  listened  to  the 
labored  action  of  the  propeller,  thinking  I 
had  never  realized  before  how  heavy  were 
its  strokes,  when  it  suddenly  stopped.  The 
ship  slackened  speed,  and  then  stood  ap- 
parently motionless.  Looking  from  my 
window,  I  perceived  that  we  were  moving 
with  extreme  caution  in  a  wide,  open 
space.  I  could  hear  the  dash  of  the  rest- 
less waves  against  the  side  of  the  ship,  and 


JUNEAU, 


»43 


saw  sparkles  of  light  all  over  the  water,  as 
if  the  stars  had  dropped  from  the  heavens 
and  were  afloat  around  us.  They  shone 
with  such  steady  lustre,  that  it  could  not 
be  the  phosphorescence  of  the  water  like 
what  I  had  seen  on  the  Atlantic.  Every- 
thing about  the  ship  was  so  very  quiet^ 
that,  concluding  we  were  under  watchful 
care,  I  retired  again  to  wait  for  develop- 
ments. Two  hours  after,  the  propeller  re- 
sumed its  customary  action,  and  we  went 
on  our  way  as  if  nothing  unusual  had  hap- 
pened. I  thought  of  the  story  of  the  old 
clock,  in  the  fable,  and  went  to  sleep. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  gun 
announced  our  approach  to  Juneau,  and  at 
four  A.  M.  we  arose  to  find  ou  hip  safely 
anchored  at  the  pier.  Mrs.  Willar  i  Irft  the 
steamer  at  an  early  hour  for  her  son's  re'^i- 
dence  in  Juneau.  We  felt  a  sense  of  loss 
at  her  departure,  although  her  delicate 
state  of  health  had  prevented  her  from  en- 
tering much  into  our  spirit  of  enthusiasm 
as  tourists. 

It  was  raining  hard,  but  the  work  of  un- 
loading stores  of  provision,  lumber,  and  a 
great  variety  of  other  freight,  went  on  with 
much  expedition,  assisted  upon   shore  by 


d 


^  i 


J 


144 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


a  squad  of  Alaskans  who  possess  a  large 
capacity  for  manual  labor. 

At  breakfast  Captain  Hunter  told  us 
he  had  to  lay  by  two  hours  in  an  ice  floe 
which  came  down  from  Takou  River.  My 
fallen  stars  were  shining  blocks  of  ice. 

Juneau  is  the  largest  "  city "  we  have 
seen  north  of  Victoria.  It  is  a  mining 
town  and  stands  upon  the  continent.  The 
houses  are  all  of  wood,  mostly  one  story 
high,  and  a  few  are  thinly  stained  with 
paint.  Treadwell's  gold  mine,  which  is 
very  large  and  in  full  operation,  is  just 
across  the  channel  upon  Douglas  Island. 
It  is  claimed  to  be  the  largest  gold  mine, 
and  to  be  wrought  with  the  largest  stamp- 
ing mill  in  the  world. 

The  town  contains  over  two  thousand 
inhabitants.  It  is  built  upon  the  side  of 
a  hill,  which  rises  between  the  shore  and  a 
high  mountain  immediately  behind,  from 
which  it  is  only  separated  by  a  deep  gulch, 
which  is  a  natural  reservoir  for  the  snows 
of  the  mountain,  probably  affording  a  sup- 
ply of  fresh  water  to  the  town.  There  is 
but  one  street  for  travel,  and  that  is  but 
little  better  than  a  New  England  cart  path. 
They  have  but  one  horse  in  the  city,  so 


%^. 


H 
U 

< 

13 


■■■ 


JUNEAU. 


'45 


that  one  road  may  be  all  they  require  for 
the  passage  of  hand-barrows  which  the 
Indians  propel  with  much  speed,  to  and  fro 
between  our  ship  and  the  storehouses  on 
shore.  We  saw  the  homes  of  the  Indians 
on  the  shore,  near  to,  but  yet  outside  of 
the  town.  They  were  nearly  all  miserably 
squalid.  One  was  situated  a  little  distance 
up  from  the  water,  and  was  reached  by  a 
flight  of  rude  stairs.  There  were  Notting- 
ham lace  curtains  at  the  windows.  Evi- 
dently it  was  the  house  of  the  big  Indian, 
though  there  was  no  totem  pole  to  indicate 
his  superior  rank. 

There  were  eight  canvas-covered  wig- 
wams in  the  village.  The  covers  were 
probably  made  of  bark  mats,  but  they 
looked  like  old  sails  hung  over  a  long  pole, 
the  sides  elevated  a  little,  so  as  to  give  a 
perpendicular  fall  of  three  feet.  The  door 
was  a  slit  in  front,  which  was  lapped  back 
when  open.  The  Indians,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  those  engaged  in  transferring 
freight  from  the  ship  to  the  storehouses, 
were  all  late  risers,  and  with  our  glass  we 
watched  "the  gettiag  up"  of  the  whole 
community.  In  the  wigwams  we  could 
see  all  that  was  done. 


146 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


1$^ 


The  Indians  ate  their  breakfasts  from  a 
rock,  while  sitting  behind  it  on  the  ground. 
After  they  were  satisfied,  the  dogs  walked 
over  the  table  and  licked  up  everything 
that  was  left :  a  good  economy  —  there 
was  no  need  of  cloth  or  brush,  for  after  the 
dogs  all  things  were  ready  for  the  next 
spread. 

The  dirty,  fat  squaws  sat  around  upon 
the  wet  stones  in  the  pouring  rain,  bare- 
foot, unwashed  and  uncombed  for  a  life- 
time, and  clad  in  rags  and  old  blankets, 
which  they  hugged  about  their  necks. 

The  men  were  much  better-looking. 
They  wore  stout  rubber  boots,  and  were 
dressed  much  like  our  farm  laborers  when 
they  start  upon  their  morning  duties. 

We  saw  the  return  of  a  canoe  with  six 
Indians,  men  and  women,  from  a  hunting 
expedition  on  Douglas  Island,  where  are 
many  deer  and  other  wild  game.  They 
were  snugly  packed  in  among  the  drift- 
wood which  they  had  collected  along  their 
way. 

At  Juneau  there  is  a  shelving  pebbly 
shore,  which  can  hardly  be  called  a  beach, 
—  a  most  unusual  sight  in  these  waters. 
The  Indians  all  clambered  from  the  canoe, 


JUNEAU. 


147 


the  men  protected  by  their  rubber  boots, 
but  the  women  with  bare  feet  and  ankles, 
and  hauled  it  upon  the  shore,  far  enough  to 
enable  them  to  unload  the  spoils  of  their 
expedition.  Each  one  hurried  to  a  hut 
with  some  bundle  more  precious  perhaps 
than  the  rest,  and  then  returned  to  work 
with  a  will.  A  squaw,  whose  face  was 
black  as  soot  and  oil  could  paint  it,  pulled 
over  a  pile  of  blankets  and  took  out  her 
pappoose,  which  she  carried  to  her  wig- 
wam. ' 

The  men  and  women  worked  together, 
throwing  off  the  drift-wood  and  other  loot 
gathered  upon  their  way.  The  contents  of 
the  canoe  consisted  of  the  skins  of  various 
kinds  of  animals,  baskets,  three  dead  deer 
wrapped  in  their  hides,  old  tinware,  rags, 
and  other  cast-away  rubbish  of  the  miners, 
all  of  which  are  of  use  to  the  Indians. 

Two  of  the  party,  an  Indian  and  his 
squaw,  were  hideously  painted  with  soot, 
to  protect  them  from  the  sun,  but  some 
say  they  paint  themselves  from  vanity, 
and  others,  from  an  inborn  love  of  Lid- 
eousness.  Some  of  the  women  had  white 
bones  called  labretts  protruding  from  their 
lips.    All  looked  loathsome  and  miserable. 


148 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


They  stew  and  dry  themselves  in  the 
smoke  of  their  wigwams  until  they  smell 
like  bad  bacon.  If  one  comes  into  a  room, 
you  may  know  he  has  been  there  by  the 
odor  he  leaves.  Their  villages  abound 
with  wolfish-looking  dogs,  small  and  yelp- 
ing as  if  in  a  chronic  state  of  hunger.  We 
saw  at  Kasaan  thirteen  of  them  in  one 
group  hungrily  watching  the  waves  lap- 
ping upon  the  rocks,  for  waste  bits  of  food 
which  they  might  bring  from  the  ship  off- 
shore. 

A  squaw  came  from  her  hut,  elaborately 
dressed  in  a  white  embroidered  blanket, 
made  from  the  wool  of  the  wild  mountain 
sheep.  She  had  every  color  of  the  rain- 
bow elsewhere  displayed  in  her  costume. 
She  carried  an  umbrella  in  one  hand,  a 
long  cane  or  wand  in  the  other,  and  took 
a  position  exactly  in  front  of  us,  where  she 
remained  immovable  for  some  time.  She 
evidently  thought  our  field-glass  was  a 
photographer's  camera,  and  she  was  being 
"taken."  Another  old  squaw,  tall  and  lean, 
wrapped  in  a  tan-colored  blanket,  with  bare 
feet  and  legs,  stalked  back  and  forth  un- 
der an  old  umbrella  for  more  than  an  hour. 
She  was  a  weird  creature,  and  with  her 


y 


mi  pi  41,"  iB»«~"fwi»»w 


JUNEAU. 


149 


long  cedar  staff  would  have  posed  well  for 
a  Meg  Merrilies. 

There  exists  no  sense  of  modesty  or 
morality  among  these  poor  Alaskans. 
Missionaries  tell  us  it  is  difficult  to  give 
them  a  proper  idea  of  personal  honor,  there 
is  such  an  element  of  moral  depravity 
existing  among  the  mining  population. 

As  the  ship  was  preparing  to  leave  the 
dock,  a  little  Indian  girl  was  brought  on 
board  by  Miss  Mathews,  a  teacher  in  the 
mission  school  at  Juneau.  The  child  is  an 
orphan  and  is  being  sent  to  Sitka  to  re- 
move her  from  the  influence  of  a  depraved 
sister.  A  number  of  the  official  dignitaries 
of  Juneau  also  came  on  board  en  route  to 
attend  court  at  Sitka. 

We  crossed  the  channel  to  the  gold 
mines  on  Douglas  Island  at  10.30  A.  m., 
where  we  remained  until  noon,  when  we 
started  northward  toward  Pyramid  Harbor 
at  the  head  of  Lynn  Channel.  We  first 
steamed  back  upon  our  track  toward  Ta- 
kou  Inlet,  and  met  many  blocks  of  blue  ice 
on  our  way,  which  came  down  from  Takou 
Caflon,  where  there  are  large  glaciers. 

Rounding  the  southeastern  point  of 
Douglas  Island,  we  came  in  sight  of  a  long 


ISO 


PICTURESQUE   ALASKA. 


snow  range  of  mountains  upon  Admiralty 
Island,  which  was  on  our  left,  where  Snow 
Mountain  sends  its  white  summit  far  above 
the  clouds.  After  entering  Lynn  Channel, 
we  bega  .  to  see  small  glaciers  and  great 
masses  of  ice  in  ravines  and  scooped-out 
hollows  on  the  mountain  sides,  upon  our 
right.  Then  Eagle  Glacier  came  in  view. 
This  is  an  immense  river  of  ice  between 
the  mountains,  1200  leet  high,  and  looked, 
what  it  really  is,  a  frozen  cataract.  If  one 
can  look  upon  the  falls  of  Niagara  and 
imagine  them  congealed  and  motionless, 
they  can  realize  what  we  saw  when  we 
looked  upon  Eagle  Glacier.  We  sighted 
twelve  of  these  glaciers  on  our  passage  up 
Lynn  Channel  ;  the  Eagle,  Riinbow,  and 
Davidson's  being  the  three  largest. 

Davidson's  Glacier  is  the  largest  of  all, 
and  is  really  a  part  of  the  great  Muir 
Glacier  on  Glacier  Bay — an  arm  of  the 
ocean  almost  parallel  to  Lynn  Channel 
farther  to  the  west. 

Davidson's  Glacier  comes  down  to  the 
channel  like  an  immr-nse  river  of  ice,  two 
or  three  miles  in  width,  and  seamed  and 
cut  by  huge  chasms,  the  edges  of  which 
glisten  and  cieepen  into  an  intensely  deep 
Hue. 


PYRAMID  HARBOR. 


151 


Rainbow  Glacier  hangs  high  upon  the 
mountains  two  thousand  feet  above  us.  It 
rolls  down  from  greater  heights,  and  fills 
the  great  spaces  between  them  with  clear 
blue  ice,  the  overflow  of  which  drops  with 
thundering  crash  and  echo  into  the  waters 
of  Lynn  Channel  below.  The  ice  is  heaped 
in  the  middle  of  its  flow,  so  that  when  it 
breaks  it  leaves  a  perfect  arch,  which,  in 
a  clear  sunlight,  flashes  and  scintillates 
with  all  the  hues  of  a  rainbow. 

The  mountains  which  stand  upon  both 
sides  of  Lynn  Channel  are  lofty  and  beau- 
tiful. In  gazing  at  them  I  find  myself  con- 
stantly, almost  unconsciously,  repeating, — 

"  Ye  are  the  things  that  tower ; 
Whose  smile  makes  glad, 
Whose  frown  is  terrible." 

I  can  only  add  that  they  are  most  satisfy- 
ingly  arctic  in  every  aspect. 

We  arrived  at  Chilkat  on  Pyramid  Har- 
bor at  seven  o'clock  p.  m.  Here  is  lo- 
cated a  large  salmon  canning  establish- 
ment, which  had  not  been  operated  for 
two  or  three  years  ;  it  may  be  on  account 
of  the  fierce  and  brutal  nature  of  the  Chil- 
kat and  Chilkoot  tribes  in  its  neighbor- 
hood.    There  are  a  dozen  log  huts,  many 


152 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


of  them  roofless,  scattered  about  on  a  level 
area  of  several  acres,  probably  the  debris 
of  a  dissipated  glacier.  It  is  a  wild  and 
desolate-looking  place.  One  might  as  well 
be  a  veritable  Robinson  Crusoe  as  to  come 
here  to  be  a  prey  to  mosquitoes  and  In- 
dians, with  the  chance  of  an  ignoble  death 
from  the  latter. 

We  had  not  been  anchored  half  an  hour 
when  there  came  to  the  ship,  in  a  birch 
canoe,  a  delicate  little  lady,  who  was  intro- 
duced as  Mrs.  White,  the  wife  of  Dr.  F.  F. 
White,  the  mission  teacher  at  Haynes 
Post  Office,  about  six  miles  distant  across 
Pyramid  Harbor.  They  saw  the  smoke 
from  our  steamer  far  down  the  channel, 
and  walked  four  miles  to  the  shore,  just 
to  get  a  sight  of  some  sign  of  white  civili- 
zation. They  heard  the  ship's  gun  as  they 
came  to  the  shore,  and  saw  and  knew  it 
was  a  steamer  from  California.  Not  hav- 
ing heard  of  the  reopening  of  the  cannery, 
they  were  not  only  delighted  but  surprised 
at  the  sight.  They  seized  a  canoe  upon 
the  shore,  although  a  small  and  leaky  one, 
and  came  over  to  our  ship,  where  they 
found  friends  and  old  acquaintances.  They 
remained  with  us  until  noon  of  the  next 


PYRAMID  HARBOR. 


153 


day,  which  was  the  hour  of  our  departure. 
In  conversation  with  them  we  learned  a 
great  deal  of  the  terrible  labor  and  danger 
which  these  missionaries  undergo  in  their 
efforts  to  civilize  and  christianize  these 
benighted  Alaskans. 

May  4.  One  hundred  and  sixty  tons  of 
freight  were  taken  from  the  ship  at  Chil- 
kat.  It  consisted  of  every  supply  in  the 
way  of  groceries,  canned  provisions,  steam 
boilers,  cans,  and  all  kinds  of  stores  and 
machinery  needed  for  a  campaign  in  the 
salmon  season.  There  is  no  pier  or  wharf 
of  any  kind  at  Chilkat,  and  our  anchor 
drew  its  chain  ninety-five  feet  before  it 
touched  bottom,  about  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
off-shore.  When  the  works  were  first 
opened  at  Chilkat,  there  was  built  a  fine 
pier.  The  teredo  is  so  abundant  in  these 
waters  that  the  pier  fell  into  the  channel 
about  six  months  after,  a  thorough  wreck 
from  the  ravages  of  these  little  insects. 

Captain  Hunter  took  us  with  several 
others  on  shore  in  a  lighter,  and  we  ex- 
plored the  place  pretty  thoroughly.  We 
went  into  a  log  hut  with  no  roof  above  it, 
where  there  was  an  old  squaw  lying  upon  a 
heap  of  rubbish  in  one  corner,  under  a  kind 


154 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


of  tent.  She  was  groaning  with  rheuma- 
tism in  her  hands  and  Hmbs,  and  seemed 
really  grateful  for  the  words  of  sympathy 
from  Captain  Hunter.  Beside  her  was  a 
younger  squaw,  baking  a  fire  cake  of  some 
gray  material  by  the  feeble  flame  of  a  few 
sticks  upon  the  ground.  Dirt  and  squalid 
poverty  and  suffering  were  all  before  us. 

We  went  into  another  hut.  The  bare 
ground  was  the  floor,  and  cracks  between 
the  logs  wide  enough  to  thrust  our  hands 
through  were  the  windows.  A  rickety  roof 
covered  this  mansion,  for  the  Indian  who 
lives  in  it  is  a  carpenter,  and  he  showed 
us  his  tools  :  an  old  adze,  and  a  hatchet  so 
rusty  and  worn,  it  may  have  been  George 
Washington's  for  aught  we  know.  He 
was  very  proud  of  the  possession  of  these 
rare  instruments  of  his  trade.  To  them 
he  probably  owes  the  protection  of  a  roof 
over  his  head  ;  it  may  be  also,  his  ability 
to  maintain  two  squaws  in  his  cabin.  One, 
the  old  squaw,  was  braiding  a  basket  in  the 
corner,  and  wheezing  at  every  cross  of  the 
bark  strands.  The  other,  a  much  younger 
Indian  girl,  was  lazily  lounging  upon  a 
heap  of  rags.  A  pot  of  fish-oil  and  a  pile 
of  dried  fish  occupied  another  corner. 


LYNN  CHANNEL. 


155 


A  rank  kind  of  grass  grows  here  in  sum- 
mer ;  it  was  standing  in  patches  three  feet 
high  all  around  us,  resembling  wild  rye, 
but  dry  from  exposure  during  the  winter. 
We  gathered  a  large  bunch  as  a  specimen 
of  the  vegetation  in  Chilkat. 

The  Elder  weighed  her  anchor  at  twelve 
M.  while  we  were  at  lunch,  and  we  started 
on  our  return  passage  down  Lynn  Chan- 
nel. We  went  upon  the  captain's  deck  for 
our  last  look  upon  the  mountains  and  gla- 
ciers of  this  most  arctic  portion  of  our 
northern  tour. 

At  Chilkat  we  were  about  60**  north  lati- 
tude. The  wind  was  chill,  but  not  discom- 
forting. The  glaciers  shone  beautifully 
in  the  declining  sun,  and  the  mountains 
were  as  grand  and  satisfying  as  when  we 
saw  them  the  day  before.  They  are  the 
stupendous  works  of  nature  which  never 
suffer  loss  by  familiarity. 

The  clouds  grew  heavy  above,  although 
the  atmosphere  was  clear  around  us.  High 
up  among  the  towering  peaks  of  the  moun- 
tains we  could  see  a  wild  storm  of  snow 
and  wind,  driving  furiously  from  peak  to 
pinnacle,  and  shrouding  them  in  cloud-like 
mists. 


156 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


Not  a  single  snovvflake  settled  upon  the 
blue  unruffled  water  of  the  channel,  and 
the  air  was  several  degrees  warmer  than 
when  we  started  from  Chilkat.  We  stood 
at  our  open  windows  and  watched  the 
scenes  moving  slowly  by,  with  no  need  of 
extra  protection  on  our  heads  or  shoulders. 
Lieutenant  Schwatka  speaks  of  the  scen- 
ery in  Lynn  Channel  as  among  the  great- 
est wonders  of  our  wonderland. 

At  six  o'clock  p.  M.  we  arrive  at  the 
entrance  of  Glacier  Bay.  Up  the  western 
shore  leads  the  icy  range  of  Mount  St. 
Elias  Alps.  They  resemble  in  configura- 
tion the  Olympian  Mountains  in  Washing- 
ton Territory,  but  are  much  more  icy,  cold, 
and  grand.  The  air  grew  misty,  and  the 
niL;ht  came  on  dark  and  rainy. 

The  Indian  boys  from  Metlahkatlah,  un- 
der Dr.  Jackson's  care,  came  into  the  sa- 
loon and  gave  us  a  sacred  concert.  They 
sing  remarkably  well.  One  accompanied 
the  rest  upon  the  piano.  Indians,  at  least 
these  natives  of  the  northwest,  can  learn 
to  sing,  as  these  Metlahkatlah  boys  have 
provf'd  to  us. 

May  4.  Our  ship  had  never  plied  these 
waters  before,  and  Captain  Hunter  told  us 


be 
id 
an 
od 
he 
of 
rs. 
sn- 
at- 
he 
jrn 
St. 
ra- 

ig- 
ild, 

:he 

un- 
sa- 
ley 
ied 
ast 
irn 
ive 

ese 
us 


Oi 


IIIIM.1,11      'y  li!U^ll|,ll*|l|IJ 


Af[///!  GLACIER. 


157 


frankly  that  he  was  fearful  of  the  conse- 
quences of  taking  her  into  the  icy  waters 
of  Glazier  Bay,  as,  at  the  lime,  it  was  more 
than  usually  flooded  with  floatin;^  ice  and 
small  icebergs.  At  Juneau  he  had  learned 
of  the  recent  fall  of  an  immense  section 
of  ice  along  the  whole  face  of  the  Muir 
Glacier.  It  came  down  with  terrific  thun- 
ders, dashing  itself  into  fragments  as  it 
struck  the  waters  of  the  bay,  and  caus- 
ing the  rise  of  a  gigantic  wave  to  sweep 
along  the  shore  to  the  almost  entire  de- 
struction of  an  Indian  encan-.j^ment.  One 
Indian  only  made  his  escape  by  clinging  to 
the  limbs  and  body  of  a  cedar-tree,  against 
which  he  was  thrown  by  the  force  of  the 
wave. 

We  saw  the  blue  waters  flecked  and 
fretted  with  myriad  shapes  of  floating  ice, 
of  mingled  white  and  emerald,  —  and  the 
long  line  of  icy  mountains  leading  up  the 
western  shore,  culminating  now  and  then  in 
loftier  summits,  among  which  Mounts  Cril- 
lon  and  Fairweather  towered  preeminent. 
I  quote  from  Frederick  Schvvatka's  account 
of  Alaskan  scenery,  the  remark  of  a  **  ven- 
erable traveller,"  while  looking  north  at  the 


158 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


entrance  to  Glacier  Bay.  •'  You  can  take 
just  what  we  see  here,  and  put  it  down  on 
Switzerland,  and  it  will  hide  all  there  is  of 
mountain  scenery  in  Europe  ; "  adding,  "  I 
have  been  ail  over  the  world,  but  you  are 
now  looking  at  a  scene  that  has  not  its 
parallel  elsewhere  on  the  globe." 

Professor  Denman  of  San  Francisco,  who 
has  given  much  attention  to  Alaskan  gla- 
ciers, says  :  "  Muii  jlacier  is  a  spectacle 
whose  grandeur  cannot  be  described  —  a 
vast  frozen  river  of  ice,  ever  slowly  moving 
to  the  sea,  and  piling  the  enormous  masses 
higher  between  the  mountain  banks,  until 
their  summit  towers  hundreds  of  feet  in 
air.  Where  the  point  of  the  glacier  pushes 
out  into  and  overhangs  the  water,  —  vast 
fragments  breaking  apart  every  few  mo- 
ments of  their  own  weight,  and  falling 
with  thundering  crash  into  the  sea,  to  float 
away  as  enormous  icebergs,  —  it  affords  a 
spectacle  which  can  only  be  understood 
and  appreciated  by  one  who  beholds  it 
with  his  own  eyes.  From  the  summit  of 
Muir  Glacier  no  less  than  twenty -nine 
others  are  to  be  seen  in  various  direc- 
tions, all  grinding  and  crowding  their  huge 


GLACIER  BAY. 


159 


masses  toward  the  sea  ;  a  sight  which 
must  certainly  be  one  which  few  others 
can  equal." 

Mr.  Edward  Roberts  writes  in  the 
•'  Overland  Monthly  "  :  "I  do  not  know 
how  wide,  nor  how  long,  nor  how  deep 
Glacier  Bay  is.  One  docs  not  think  of 
figures  and  facts  when  sailing  over  its 
waters  and  enjoying  the  novel  features. 
Flood  Switzerland  and  sail  up  some  of  its 
caflons  toward  Mont  Blanc,  and  you  will 
have  then  another  Glacier  Bay.  But  until 
the  sea-waves  wash  the  feet  of  that  Fwiss 
peak,  and  until  one  can  sail  past  the  gla- 
ciers of  that  country,  there  will  never  be 
found  a  companion  bay  to  this  of  Alaska. 
Norway,  with  all  its  ruggedness,  has  noth- 
ing to  equal  it ;  and  there  is  not  a  moun- 
tain in  all  the  ranges  of  the  Rockies  which 
has  the  majestic  gracefulness  of  Fair- 
weather  Peak,  which  looks  down  upon  the 
bay." 

Our  ship  encountered  heavy  seas  during 
the  night,  and  pitched  and  rolled  about  in 
the  darkness  in  a  manner  quite  distressful 
to  timid  voyagers.  We  remained  quiet  in 
our  beds,  trusting  to  be  safely  watched 


l6o  PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 

over  and  guarded  from  the  dangerous 
rocks,  which  are,  in  these  waters,  the  bite 
tioir  of  navigators.  The  ship  stopped  once 
in  the  night  for  the  passage  of  ice,  and 
again  for  daylight  and  the  tide  at  the  en- 
trance of  Peril  Strait.  We  made  the  pas- 
sage in  safety,  and  anchored  in  Sitka  har- 
bor at  nine  a.  m.,  May  5th. 


V. 


SITKA,  JUNEAU,   AND   DOUGLAS   ISLAND. 

May  $.  We  had  upon  the  deck  of  the 
steamship  two  fine  crafts  from  San  Fran- 
cisco to  Sitka.  One  was  a  large  steam 
launch  for  the  use  of  naval  officials  in 
Alaskan  seas.  It  was  surprising  to  see 
how  large  these  vessels  were  when  launched 
upon  the  harbor  at  Sitka.  They  had 
seemed  so  small  in  comparison  with  the 
deck  of  the  Elder,  which  was  nearly  three 
hundred  feet  long. 

The  tide  was  strong  from  the  ocean,  the 
pier  at  Sitka  old  and  weak,  consequently 
the  Elder  was  anchored  a  little  way  off- 
shore, and  we  were  compelled  to  land  from 
a  lighter,  or  remain  on  shipboard  until 
night. 

We  entered  the  small  boat  in  a  drench- 
ing rain,  and  proceeded  to  the  principal 
store  in  town,  kept  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Brady, 
a  government  commissioner  of  Alaska, 
where  we  bought  baskets  made  by  Yakutat 


a  viypftip.  J 11 


162 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


women  under  the  snowy  peaks  of  Mount 
St.  Klias;  eagle's  wings  and  other  curios. 
We  made,  by  the  courteous  invitation  of 
Mr.  Brady,  a  delightful  call  upon  Mrs. 
Brady,  an  agreea])le  and  entertaining  lady, 
who  told  us  a  great  deal  of  the  customs  of 
the  Sitka  natives.  There  were  ICaster  ser- 
vices at  the  Greek  church.  We  went  near 
it  to  examine  its  exterior,  and  seeing  noth- 
ing peculiarly  attractive  about  it,  turned 
away,  as  strangers  were  not  permitted  to 
enter  during  the  hours  of  services.  There 
was  a  mixed  company  of  Indians  and  Rus- 
sians about  the  entrance  ;  many  of  them 
had  little  children  and  babies  —  all  neatly 
dressed,  and  some  were  quite  pretty.  We 
joined  them,  and  walked  respectfully  for- 
ward into  the  ch'.Tch,  and  stood  among 
them  in  the  square,  vacant  area  in  front  of 
the  chancel. 

The  people  were  very  devout  in  their 
aspect  and  earnestly  attentive  to  the  in- 
structions of  iwo  fine-looking  Russian  Fa- 
thers, who  were  officiating  at  the  altar. 

We  remained  for  some  time,  quietly  ob- 
serving the  appointments  of  the  church  — 
moving  forward  to  the  rail  before  the  chan- 
cel in  order  to  di/  so,  without  look  or  word 


SITKA. 


163 


of  disapproval  from  any  one.  In  fact,  we 
thought  the  benevolent  faces  of  the  priests 
had  a  pleasant  gleam  of  approval,  as  if 
they  quite  understood  us,  and  were  willing 
to  gratify  our  curiosity  W^e  retired  as 
quicJy  as  we  entered,  and  surprised  vari- 
ous other  tourists  on  the  ship  by  having 
accomplished  what  none  of  them  had  been 
able  to,  although  they  had  several  times  in 
the  day  attempted  it. 

At  four  v.  M.  the  rain  seemed  to  slacken, 
and  we  again  embarked  in  the  little  lighter 
and  went  on  shrre  to  visit  Dr.  Jackson's 
Mission  i  ;hool.  We  had  been  kindly  in- 
vited to  be  present  at  an  exhibition  of 
scholarship,  earlier  in  the  afternoon,  but 
the  violence  of  the  storm  prevented.  We 
found  the  Mission  in  a  very  flourishing 
condition.  There  were  one  hundred  and 
seven  boys  and  sixty  girls,  all  between  the 
ages  of  ten  and  eighteen  or  nineteen  years. 
The  teachers  are  enthus'astic,  able,  and  are 
doing  effectual  work  ;  they  are  building  for 
results,  far  better,  perh  ^ps,  than  they  can 
now  realize,  in  the  great  scheme  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  Alaskans  from  bar- 
barism and  superstition. 

Dr.   Jackson  a'  coin  pan  led  us  to  Indian 


' 


164 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


River.  This  is  a  full,  rapid  stream  of 
mountain  water,  flowing  from  glacier- 
crowned  summits  behind  Sitka  into  the 
carton  below,  and  thence  into  the  harbor, 
making  an  island  of  the  level  area  upon 
which  Sitka  stands.  It  is  a  wildly  roman- 
tic stream,  at  some  points  overarched  by 
birches  and  white  and  yellow  cedars,  and 
along  its  banks  were  alders  and  thick 
clumps  of  willows  springing  from  the  soft 
green  moss  which  grows  beneath  them. 

There  are  beautiful  young  Norway 
•pruccs  and  fine  groves  of  primeval  fir- 
trc'-S  growing  all  over  the  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres  appropriated  by  government  to 
the  Mission  School. 

The  harbor  of  Sitka  has  deep  water,  but 
is  dotted  over  with  lovely  small  islands  and 
rocky  islets  all  covered  with  low  green 
shrubs  and  trees.  The  water  is  moderately 
c;dm,  and  oftentimes  reflects  like  a  mirror 
the  beautiful  islands  and  mountains  on  the 
shores. 

Across  the  harbor  are  great  snowy 
Hiountains.  behind  which  the  sun  sets, 
shedding  over  all  such  a  golden  light  that 
in  beholding  it,  one  ftolt  almost  as  if  trans- 
ported to  enchanted  realms. 


I 


0 


C) 


SITKA. 


165 


© 


We  saw  such  a  sunset  shining  over 
Sitka  and  its  beautiful  harbor  as  we  re- 
turned from  Indian  River  with  Dr.  Jack- 
son ! 

We  did  not  visit  the  "  Palace  "  at  Sitka. 
It  was  too  stormy  while  we  were  there  to 
undertake  an  excursion  promising  so  little 
satisfaction.  It  is  a  large  three -story- 
wooden  structure  with  a  square  roof, 
standing  upon  a  little  elevation  by  the 
shore,  and  very  neglected.  It  looks  more 
like  an  old  warehouse  than  a  palace,  and 
is,  I  think,  used  for  the  purposes  of  stor- 
age, offices,  etc. 

The  population  of  Sitka  numbers  eleven 
hundred  people,  one  hundred  of  which  are 
from  the  States,  three  hundred  are  Rus- 
sians, and  seven  hundred  are  native  Alas- 
kans. 

The  Indian  village  stands  on  the  shore 
upon  one  side  of  the  town,  and  behind  it 
is  a  burial-place.  It  is  like  other  burial- 
grounds  before  described  ;  one  tomb,  prob- 
ably containing  the  ashes  of  a  chieftain, 
has  the  carved  image  of  an  eagle  perched 
with  drooping  wings  upon  a  smafr  pole 
rising  from  the  middle  of  the  roof. 

Witchcraft  and  all  the  direful  supersti- 


O 


o 


i66 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


e 


tions  pertaining  to  it  exist  in  a  deplorable 
degree  among  the  natives  throughout 
Alaska.  At  every  port  where  we  called, 
throughout  our  voyage,  we  were  told  some 
fearful  story  of  recent  horror  and  torture 
connected  with  it. 

Missionaries  have  labored  in  vain  to 
eradicate  the  terrible  superstition.  Some 
of  the  more  civilized  profess  to  have  re- 
nounced their  belief  in  it,  but  facts  are 
constantly  occurring  to  give  the  lie  to 
their  professions.  Among  the  company 
of  Indian  boys  from  Mctlahkatlah  which 
came  on  shipboard  with  Dr.  Jackson,  there 
was  one  fleeing  from  persecution  as  a  wiz- 
ard. He  had  undergone  torture,  but  had 
made  his  escape,  and  his  father  had  sent 
him  to  the  Mission  School  at  Sitka  for 
safety. 

JUay  6.  We  received  calls  from  Dr. 
Jackson,  Judge  and  Mrs.  Brady,  and  Mrs. 
Baker  this  morning.  They  stood  upon  the 
pier  and  waved  us  a  parting  farewell,  as 
our  ship  steamed  out  from  Sitka  and  sailed 
away  among  the  "  Thousand  Islands  "  of 
her  harbor. 

As  we  moved  away  from  the  pier,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  more  lovely 


cs 


SITKA, 


167 


scene  of  spring  warmth  and  sunshine,  be- 
tokening upon  every  side  a  general  upris- 
ing of  nature,  after  the  long  gloomy  slum- 
bers of  an  arctic  winter.  Tender  leaves 
were  springing  to  birth  upon  the  graceful 
birches,  and  the  willows  were  gay  with  yel- 
low catkins.  Grasses  were  growing  upon 
the  small  bits  of  lawn  before  the  low  cot- 
tages, and  pale  green  mosses  were  fresh 
and  fluff  with  the  growth  of  spring.  Birds 
were  beginning  to  sing  upon  the  boughs 
which  overhung  the  swift -flowing  Indian 
River,  and  no  sign  of  the  visitation  of  win- 
ter frosts  or  ice  or  snow  was  visible  any- 
where, until  we  lifted  cur  eyes  from  the 
low  surroundings  of  sea  ahd  land  to  the 
ever-silent  mountains,  whose  lofty  peaks 
stood  cold  and  stark  against  the  blue  skies, 
vying  with  the  clouds  in  whiteness. 

The  symmetrical  Mount  Vestovia  stood 
like  a  mighty  pyramid  just  behind  the  city, 
its  great  silver  firs  and  cedars  forming  a 
fine  relief  for  the  quaintness  of  the  old  Rus- 
sian castle,  the  Greek  church,  and  the  low 
rambling  architecture  of  the  Russian  re- 
gime, in  this  our  "North  Land,"  while  its 
sharp,  white  crest  shone  with  a  constant 
light  like  a  silver  star,  whose  i|^t  radiance 


i68 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


s* 


seemed  a  benediction  on  the  little  city  at 
her  feet. 

Behind  Vcstovia,  and  reaching  far  away 
toward  the  interior  of  Baronoff  Island, 
rose  a  lofty  serrated  chain  of  mountains, 
ghostly  and  drear  in  their  shrouds  of  ever- 
lasting snow.  To  the  west,  Mount  Edge- 
comb  stood  like  a  bold  strong  buttress  of 
the  sky,  while  the  beautiful  blue  waters  of 
the  harbor,  with  its  lovely  islands,  seemed 
to  be  dancing  on  their  sparkling  way  out 
into  the  far  dim  reaches  of  the  broad  Pa- 
cific Ocean,  which  opened  its  illimitable 
spaces  before  them. 

At  nine  o'clock  a.  m.  we  began  our 
homeward  voyage  from  Sitka,  and  soon 
after  we  had  a  gentle  reminder  of  the  roll- 
ing influence  of  old  ocean  as  we  crossed  a 
bit  of  open  sea  before  entering  upon  the 
winding  waters  of  Peril  Strait. 

Mount  Edgecomb  stood  out  boldly  upon 
a  small  island  on  the  ocean  side.  It  is 
a  fine  high  mountain,  with  a  small  bowl- 
shaped  dome  upon  its  top.  The  surface 
round  about  it  slopes  gradually  to  the 
shore,  presenting  more  the  semblance  of  a 
habitable  country  than  any  other  which 
we  have  seen  in  Alaska  or  its  islands. 


/ 


/ 


O 


/ 


PERIL  STRAIT.  169 

The  scenery  along  Peril  Strait  is  very 
;/'  picturesque,  but  it  does  not  partake  of  that 

'  lofty  grandeur  which  characterizes  Lynn 

Channel.  The  fascination  of  the  passage 
lies  in  its  waters  and  rocky  shores  and 
islets.  Not  many  miles  from  Sitka  there  is 
a  difficult  passage,  where  the  water  swirls 
and  shoots  in  eddies  and  currents  over 
hidden  rocks.  I  watched  the  passage 
closely,  for  there,  eight  years  before;  our 
captain's  ship  was  wrecked.  For  nearly 
three  months  he  remained  with  his  crew 
upon  the  little  island  near  by,  where  is 
now  a  small  settlement,  which  they  began 
and  named  Kureka. 

As  our  ship  passed  through  this  "  Peril," 
slowly  making  her  way  from  point  to  point, 
we  observed  the  curves  in  the  wake  which 
followed.  They  left  the  impress  of  a  dis- 
tinct and  compact  letter  S  upon  the  sur- 
face. 

VVe  saw  immense  flocks  of  black  ducks 
with  white  wings,  and  large  sea  gulls  fly- 
ing along  the  shores.  Upon  a  brown  sea- 
wccdy  rock,  which  rose  a  few  feet  above 
low  tide,  we  counted  thirty  black  cormo- 
(^  rants  feeding  upon  mussels,  and  stretch- 
ing up  their  long  glossy  necks  to  look  at 
\^%  as  we  passed  bv,  ( 


^ 


I70 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


o 


At  five  p.  M.  we  cast  our  anchor  at  the 
pier  at  Killisnoo.  This  is  an  Indian  vil- 
lage upon  the  west  shore  of  Admiralty 
Island,  where  is  an  establishment  for  the 
manufacture  of  oil  from  herrings,  which 
swarm  into  the  shelter  of  a  little  bay  near 
by  to  escape  the  ravages  of  the  whales 
which  pursue  them  from  the  ocean. 

The  wife  of  one  of  the  gentlemen  who 
conduct  the  business  here,  told  us  that 
she  once  counted  twelve  whales  spouting 
at  one  time,  just  outside  the  bay  within 
which  the  poor  herrings  were  being  caught 
in  seines.  The  gentleman  said  he  caught 
twenty  -  seven  hundred  barrels  at  one 
"catch."  Had  the  poor  fish  remained  at 
sea,  their  chances  of  safety  would  have 
been  greater. 

Captain  Hunter  invited  us  to  go  on  shore 
and  call  upon  Saginaw  Jake.  At  many  of 
these  villages  our  government  gives  a  com- 
mission to  the  one  most  worthy,  to  act  as 
keeper  of  the  peace  between  his  people 
and  the  white  settlers  among  them. 

Those  who  hold  these  commissions  are 
very  proud  of  their  honorable  and  respon- 
sible positions,  and  as  a  rule  are  faithful 
servants  of  the  government.    They  receive 


\ 


KILLISNOO. 


171 


with  their  appointment  a  large  silver  star 
or  badge  of  office,  which  they  display  upon 
all  occasions. 

Saginaw  Jake's  house  was  a  board  struc- 
ture one  story  high.  An  immense  bald- 
eagle  with  outstretched  wings,  carved  from 
wood  and  painted  black  and  white,  sur- 
mounted his  door. 

Upon  the  other  end,  beneath  the  gable 
of  the  roof,  was  the  shield  of  the  United 
States,  over  which  was  the  name  of  his 
tribe,  and  a  legend  upon  either  side  of 
which  he  is  very  proud. 


"kitcheenault." 


By  the  Governor's  com- 
mission 

And  the  Company's  per- 
mission, 

I  am  made  the  great 
Tyhee 

Of  this  entire  illahee. 


C/3 
5 

r 

p 

c! 

C/5 

> 


Prominent  in  song  and 

story, 
I  've  attained  the  top  of 

glory; 
As  Saginaw  I'm  known 

to  fame, 
Jake     is     my    common 

name. 


Over  all  a  small  roof  projected  for  the 
protection  of  the  legend.  In  the  house, 
Saginaw  Jake,  who  is  a  short,  laughing  In- 
dian, and  quite  lame  in  his  gait,  drew  out 
h;>  treasures  from  some  old  trunks,  and  ex- 
hiL)ited  them  to  us.     To  see  his  delight  at 


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PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


our  expressions  of  admiration  at  every  fresh 
exhibition,  was  very  amusing. 

There  were  two  full  suits  of  dark  blue 
uniform,  gold  lace,  buttons,  epaulets,  and 
all  the  etceteras  of  a  military  commander's 
full-dress  uniform.  These  Jake  wears  upon 
all  important  occasions  ;  he  was  sorry  he 
did  not  know  we  were  going  to  honor  him 
with  a  call,  for  he  should  have  put  them  on. 
His  blankets  were  a  marvel  of  savage  em- 
broidery, with  devices  requiring  an  adept 
in  Indian  lore  to  interpret. 

Jake's  wife  pointed  to  a  "  Sunday  cake  " 
upon  the  table.  It  was  a  marvelous  speci- 
men of  culinary  skill.  The  glazing  was  of 
a  grayish  pink  color,  upon  which  were 
traced  in  red  outlines,  figures  of  Indians 
running  around  a  central  knob,  the  import 
of  which  I  could  not  guess.  The  cake  was 
for  their  supper.  Jake's  wife  had  been 
at  the  Mission  in  Sitka,  where  she  had 
learned  to  cook.  Leaving  Saginaw  Jake 
happy  over  a  pair  of  eye-glasses  which  C. 
gave  him,  we  made  a  call  upon  the  white 
ladies  of  the  place. 

We  met  three  ladies,  two  of  them  the 
wives  of  the  proprietors  of  the  oil  works, 
and  the  third  the  teacher  of  the  govern- 


DOUGLAS  ISLAND. 


173 


ment  school,  all  very  intelligent  and  agree- 
able people.  They  returned  our  call  with 
their  husbands,  and  spent  a  pleasant  hour 
with  us  upon  shipboard.  At  nine  p.  m.  we 
were  again  pursuing  our  return  voyage  to 
Juneau. 

May  7.  We  awoke  this  morning  at  Ju- 
neau, where  our  ship  exchanged  mails,  etc. 
It  was  cloudy,  but  dry.  At  seven  o'clock 
we  were  ready  to  walk  on  shore,  which  was 
well,  for  before  eight  it  began  to  rain,  and 
we  returned  in  a  drenching  shower.  Ju- 
neau has  no  decent  street ;  we  picked  our 
way  along  the  dirty  pathway,  across  little 
streams  which  trickled  down  from  the  hill 
above  and  ran  into  the  bay,  along  the 
gray  stony  beach.  We  went  as  far  as  the 
post-office,  and  bought  baskets  and  curios 
made  by  Indians  near  Mount  St.  Elias,  re- 
turning to  the  Elder  in  season  for  break- 
fast. We  have  several  ladies  on  board  go- 
ing to  Oregon  and  California. 

At  10.30  we  left  Juneau  and  steamed 
across  the  channel  once  more  to  Douglas 
Island,  where  we  visited  the  mines  and 
crushing  mills  of  the  Treadwell  Mining 
Company. 

Up  a  trail  of  half  a  mile  on  the  side  of 


•v  ■» 


174 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


the  mountain  we  came  to  an  immense 
open  pit,  in  which  the  miners  were  at  work 
blasting  out  the  ore,  three  hundred  feet 
below  the  surface  where  we  stood.  From 
the  bottom  of  the  pit  runs  a  tunnel  which 
conducts  the  ore  upon  cars  to  the  crush- 
ing-mills on  the  shore  below.  We  went 
through  the  various  departments  of  these 
mills  and  saw  enough  of  their  operations 
to  give  us  some  idea  of  their  principles  and 
results. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Jackson 
we  had  received  a  call  upon  the  ship  from 
E.  W.  Weesner  and  wife,  of  Douglas  Island, 
when  we  were  here  on  May  3d.  Again  we 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  them.  Mr. 
Weesner  is  a  member  of  the  "  Friends  So- 
ciety," and  was  sent  to  Alaska,  accom- 
panied by  his  family  and  another  gentle- 
man and  lady,  by  Kansas  *'  Friends,"  to 
establish  a  mission  school  on  Douglas 
Island. 

He  is  an  enthusiastic  and  successful 
laborer  in  the  mission  work  in  which  he 
and  his  colaborers  have  engaged.  The 
field  is  a  broad  one,  the  labor  great,  often- 
times attended  with  much  danger,  always 
with  much  self-sacrifice,  and  so^^letimes,  wo 


FRIENDS'  MISSION. 


175 


fear,  with  many  privations.  He  hopes  to 
be  assisted  in  the  establishment  of  such 
a  home  school  on  Douglas  Island  as  Dr. 
Jackson  has  so  successfully  instituted  and 
maintained  by  the  contributions  of  its  pa- 
trons and  the  aid  of  the  United  States 
government  at  Sitka.  Upon  our  return  to 
the  East  we  shall  try  to  do  what  we  can 
ourselves,  and  to  interest  our  friends  in 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weesner  and  the  "  Friends 
Mission  Home  School "  in  Alaska. 

Three  p.  m.  There  is  nothing  to  record 
in  the  progress  of  our  voyage  except  that 
it  is  still  raining.  I  find  it  has  rained  many 
days,  but  you  must  not  suppose  that  we 
are  dissatisfied  with  the  weather.  On  the 
contrary,  we  congratulate  ourselves  that 
we  have  not  seen  a  thick  fog  upon  the 
sea  or  mountains  since  we  started  on  our 
Alaskan  voyage.  The  chances  are  that  a 
month  later  tourists  will  experience  many 
disappointments  from  the  presence  of  ob- 
scuring fogs.  Large  cakes  of  ice,  not  large 
enough  to  be  mentioned  as  icebergs,  or 
numerous  enough  to  threaten  us  with  dan- 
ger, are  floating  along  our  way.  They  are 
green  as  emerald,  and  often  take  fanciful 
forms,  sometimes  like  flocks  of  white  geese 


1/6 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


in  the  distance,  or  mammoth  swans  float- 
ing gracefully  by  upon  the  pulsing  waves. 

May  8.  At  ten  o'clock  last  night  our 
ship  came  to  anchor  a  little  way  off  the 
shore  of  Mitgof^  Island  to  await  daylight 
and  a  full  tide,  before  entering  Wrangell 
Strait,  which  is  a  difficult  passage  at  best, 
and  had  never  been  navigated  by  so  large 
a  vessel  as  the  G.  W.  Elder.  It  separates 
Mitgoff  Island  from  the  large  eastern  pen- 
insula of  Kuprianoff  Island.  On  our  up- 
ward voyage  we  avoided  it  by  taking  to  the 
more  open  seas. 

The  sun  shone  bright  at  5.30  this  morn- 
ing, and  spread  a  kind  of  golden  haze 
over  the  hoary  hills  and  white  mountains. 
There  had  been  a  snow-storm  in  the  upper 
atmosphere,  and  the  low  green  mountains 
alongshore  looked  as  if  covered  with  feath- 
ery hoar-frost. 

Several  of  the  crew  went  of[  in  a  boat 
to  dig  clams  for  breakfast  upon  the  shal- 
lows near  the  shore. 

On  the  previous  day  we  sighted  a  low 
vessel  far  in  our  wake,  and  watched  its 
progress  by  its  trail  of  black  smoke  on  the 
horizon,  until  we  lost  sight  of  it  in  the  twi- 
light.   Now  it  came  steadily  up  and  passed 


WRANGELL  NARROWS. 


177 


US,  as  we  were  still  awaiting  the  tides. 
The  old  tale  of  the  hare  and  the  tortoise, 
thought  I,  as  it  crept  slowly  on  through 
the  Narrows  before  us.  The  cabin  boys 
were  sweeping  and  dusting  within  and  the 
deck  boys  scrubbing  and  polishing  with- 
out, and  I  took  the  opportunity  to  brush 
and  free  our  skirts  and  coats  from  the  dust 
and  mire  of  our  excursion  in  the  mines  the 
previous  day. 

At  eight  o'clock  we  started  for  the  Nar- 
rows. The  shores  approach  quite  near  to 
each  other  in  some  places,  and  the  rocks 
poke  up  their  ugly  heads  all  covered  with 
sea-weeds  and  mosses,  which  fortunately 
indicate  their  whereabouts  at  high  water 
to  the  watchful  pilot. 

We  moved  slowly,  turning  this  way  and 
that  way  to  avoid  the  shoals  indicated  by 
buoys,  or  the  grim  and  cruel  rocks,  some 
visible  and  some  hidden  we  knew  not 
where,  but  above  which  stood  white  sig- 
nals of  various  designs  to  denote  different 
degrees  and  stages  of  the  dangerous  pas- 


sage. 


At  last  we  were  safely  through  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  Strait,  and  Captain 
Hunter  came  around  to  see  jf  we  had  been 


178 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


good  sailors  under  the  excitement  of  our 
morning  voyage.  We  asked  him  if  we 
were  quite  through  the  dangers  of  the  Nar- 
rows. He  answered  us  with  a  look  of  hon- 
est gratitude  upon  his  face,  "Yes,  thank 
God,  we  are  through  wit\  them,"  and  add- 
ed, "The  ship  is  too  large  for  these  Nar- 
rows ;  I  shall  not  go  to  Red  Bay,  although 
I  have  their  mails  on  board.  They  may 
send  them  there  by  a  smaller  ship.  The 
Elder  draws  fourteen  feet  without  freight." 
The  steward  came  to  tell  us  there  were 
great  multitudes  of  white  gulls  upon  the 
shallows  near  the  shores,  feeding  upon 
clams  and  mussels.  They  rose  and  flut- 
tered low,  and  settled  again  upon  the 
brown  weedy  shore  like  a  fall  of  great 
snowflakes  in  a  drifting  squall. 

Farther  on  were  numerous  flocks  of  wild 
ducks  and  white-necked  divers  ;  then  came 
multitudes  of  large  black  birds  with  bills 
as  red  as  blood,  doubtless  another  species 
of  duck  or  diver. 

Thousands  and  thousands  of  snipes  in 
many  flocks  went  winging  their  way  low 
over  the  water  around  us,  and  flights  of 
sable  cormorants  pass  now  and  then  along 
the  coast.     Eagles  float  in  the  air,  high 


WRANGELL. 


179 


over  all,  and  are  so  numerous  among  the 
high,  timbered  mountains  that  we  can  get 
sight  of  one  or  two,  almost  every  time  we 
turn  our  eyes  above  the  sea  and  its  sur- 
roundings. With  our  glass  we  can  see 
their  fierce  bald  heads  and  white -plumed 
necks,  and  tails,  and  almost  measure  the 
sweep  of  their  broad,  black  wings. 

We  saw  an  Indian  fishing  camp  upon 
the  shore  of  Kuprianoff.  Several  Indian 
men  were  sitting  upon  some  stones  in  the. 
edge  of  the  forest,  as  if  they  had  just  come 
out  from  their  wigwam,  which  stood  be- 
hind them  under  the  shadows  of  the  fir- 
trees.  Drawn  upon  the  shore  in  front  of 
them,  were  several  bark  and  log  canoes, 
and  about  them  lay  scattered  their  various 
camp  furnishings,  piles  of  skins,  etc.  Red 
blankets  and  shirts  were  hanging  over  a 
pole  near  by,  and  strung  upon  another  pole 
were  a  dozen  or  more  of  split  salmon,  dry- 
ing in  the  sun  and  air.  It  was  a  real  story- 
book scene,  and  came  well  up  to  our  child- 
hood imaginings  of  Indians  in  the  wild 
woods. 

At  twelve  o'clock  p.  m.  we  arrived  at  Fort 
Wrangell,  where  we  went  on  shore.  We 
crossed  the  long  pier  leading  up  to  the 


i8o 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


town,  for  Wrangell,  unlike  most  of  the 
ports  on  this  coast,  has  not  a  deep-water 
shore.  It  is  situated  upon  an  island  of  the 
same  name,  is  a  trading  port,  has  a  cusiom 
officer  and  a  government  school. 

The  natives  were  sitting  about  in  groups 
upon  the  stones  and  ground.  The  women 
and  children  were  neatly  clad,  and  were 
very  pretty  and  picturesque,  with  their 
rosy  brunette  complexions  and  red,  blue, 
or  yellow  kerchiefs  upon  their  heads. 
The  Indian  men  and  boys  of  Fort  Wran- 
gell did  not  impress  us  so  favorably  in 
comparison  as  at  Juneau  and  Sitka,  It  may 
be  that  the  men  are  many  of  them  away 
mining,  hunting,  or  fishing.  We  bought 
garnets,  and  carved  silver  bracelets,  etc., 
and  went  to  look  at  the  totem  poles  and 
totems  tombs.  Most  of  the  Indian  houses 
are  built  of  logs  and  are  very  old.  A  few 
aspire  to  frame-houses  ;  evidently  they  are 
of  the  F.  F.'s  o'i:  the  Stikeens,  for  their 
frame-houses  are  built  behind  some  very 
ancient  totems. 

The  first  totem  to  which  we  came  was 
an  enormous  whale,  carved  from  a  huge 
log  of  fir  or  pine,  four  feet  in  diameter. 
Its  great  grinning  teeth  were  painted  white. 


■^.^(  ■■w'liw^f^r^ 


WRANGELL. 


I8i 


between  his  jaws  and  parted  lips.  It  was 
supported  behind  with  its  great  head  resting 
upon  the  small  house  containing  ancestral 
ashes.  Close  beside  it  stood  another  small 
house,  in  a  somewhat  better  state  of  pre- 
servation, although  the  aperture  for  the 
reception  of  the  boxes  containing  the 
ashes  was  ooen  and  the  boxes  within  were 
broken  and  scattered  about.  Crouching 
upon  this  house  was  the  figure  of  a  wolf, 
about  ten  feet  from  tip  to  tip ;  his  head 
and  tail  being  extended  in  a  line  with  his 
back,  —  an  arrangement  which  was  a  ne- 
cessity, since  he  was  carved  from  another 
great  log.  His  mouth  is  open,  his  tongue 
protruding,  and  his  teeth  gleaming  with 
white  paint.  A  green  mould,  which  looked 
almost  like  a  coat  of  paint,  had  covered 
his  body. 

Next  we  came  to  the  totem  poles. 
These  we  found  standing  before  old  dilapi- 
dated log  houses,  having  no  sign  of  pres- 
ent habitation.  The  crow,  seal,  jay,  and 
bear  were  the  leading  figures  carved  upon 
them.  Farther  along  the  shore  was  the 
house  of  the  Stikeen  chief.  It  was  a  two- 
story  mansion  with  bay  windows  and  other 
modern  ornamentations,  but  in  an  unfin- 


1 82 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


ished  condition.  The  chief  had  boarded 
up  his  windows,  and  gone  with  his  squaw 
and  children  to  fishing  and  hunting 
grounds  for  the  summer.  The  Indian  is 
an  aristocrat,  in  having  a  winter  residence 
in  town,  which  is  too  confining  and  re- 
straining for  his  wild  nature  in  the  milder 
months  of  summer,  when  he  resorts  to  the 
shores  and  woods,  and  remains  there  until 
the  frosts  and  snows  of  winter  drive  him 
town- ward  again. 

In  front  of  the  Stikeen  chief's  house 
were  two  very  elaborate  totem  poles. 
They  were  from  forty  to  fifty  ftct  in 
height,  and  four  and  a  half  in  diameter. 
Large  trees  were  selected,  which  from  top  to 
bottom  were  carved  with  images  of  eagles, 
crows,  and  bears,  representing  the  honors 
and  brave  exploits  of  four  or  five  genera- 
tions. One  was  surmounted  by  an  Ameri- 
can tile  hat  carved  of  wood,  to  tell  that  the 
present  chief  considered  himself  a  "  Boston 
man."  Doubtless  he  wore  the  star  of  a 
government  official. 

Before  our  return  to  the  Elder  we  called 
at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Young,  a  teacher  in 
the  mission  and  government  school.  The 
school  was  not  in  session,  but  the  general 


WRANGELL.  1 83 

appearance  of  the  females  at  Fort  Wrangell 
spoke  volumes  to  us  in  favor  of  the  success 
of  the  mission.  It  is  through  the  Indian 
women  of  Alaska  that  their  race  is  to  be 
redeemed  and  elevated. 

At  two  p.  M.  we  steamed  away  from 
Fort  Wrangell.  As  we  went  past  the  old 
Indian  burial-place,  which  stands  well  out 
into  the  cha  i.al,  we  remarked  many  roof- 
like structure;";,  surrounded  with  pickets 
and  painted  and  ornamented  with  images 
of  frogs,  birds,  anri  beasts.  The  captain 
told  us  something  of  the  shrewdness  of 
the  old  Stikeen  chief. 

The  Scikeen  River  enters  the  sea  about 
six  miles  above  Wrangell.  It  is  a  large 
river  and  at  certain  seasons  is  frequented 
by  vast  quantities  of  salmon.  The  Stikeen 
Indians  have  always  claimed  an  exclusive 
right  to  fish  and  navigate  the  river  for 
thirty  miles  back  to  the  line  of  boundary 
between  Alaska  and  British  Columbia. 

After  the  English  opened  their  gold 
mines  beyond  this  boundary,  they  were 
obliged  to  navigate  our  portion  of  the  Sti- 
keen River  in  transport  between  them  and 
their  ports  of  British  Columbia. 

The  old  Stikeen  chief  established  a  toll 


* 


1 84 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


on  the  river  at  the  line  of  boundary,  which 
he  collected  for  years.  The  English  trad- 
ers and  miners  paid  these  tolls  more  from 
fear  than  in  recognition  of  his  rights  to 
demand  them.  The  chief  is  now  a  rich  as 
well  as  a  big  Indian.  He  is  also  a  most 
skilful  smuggler,  and  thus  far  has  defied 
detection.  It  is  said  he  rigs  his  boats  for 
a  long  voyage  and  goes  to  the  continent 
of  Asia,  returning  safely  with  a  freight  of 
opium  and  other  merchandise.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  custom  officials  at  Wrangell 
are  not  in  danger  of  that  infliction  of  total 
blindness  which  affects  "those  who  will 
not  see,"  if  the  story  of  the  Stikeen's 
voyages  to  China  is  a  true  one. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RETURN    TO   TACOMA. 

Tourists  who  go  early  in  the  season  to 
Alaska  will  find  many  curios  to  take  home 
with  them,  such  as  Indian  blankets,  bas- 
kets, mats,  carved  bracelets,  rings,  and  a 
variety  of  horn  spoons.  These  last  are 
carved  very  ingeniously  from  the  horns  of 
the  wild  mountain  sheep  and  a  species  of 
snow-white  chamois  or  goats,  with  small 
horns  as  black  as  ebony,  which  frequent 
the  highest  altitudes  of  the  great  snow 
mountains  all  through  the  region  of  our 
Northwest.  Their  spoons  are  used  for  la- 
dles to  dip  the  seal  and  fish  oil  from  their 
woven  buckets,  in  which  it  is  stored  for 
the  winter.  Some  are  made  smooth  and 
chased  with  uncouth  hieroglyphics,  em- 
blems of  tribal  distinctions,  etc.  Others 
have  traceries  of  lines  and  geometrical  fig- 
ures, outlines  of  simple  flowers,  etc.,  all 
stained  red  with  a  dye  which  they  make 
from  some  particular  root.    The  smaller 


1 86 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


black  spoon,  which  we  found  at  Chilkat, 
made  from  the  horn  of  a  mountain  goat,  is 
carved  along  the  handle  with  the  heads  of 
animals  with  large  eyes  and  upright  ears, 
somewhat  resembling  a  rabbit,  with  other 
strange  devices. 

The  Chilkat  people  with  the  Hydahs  are 
considered  the  highest  types  of  all  the 
many  tribes  of  Alaska  in  intelligence,  phy- 
sical strength,  and  wealth.  They  are  fierce 
and  warlike,  but  all  are  industrious.  The 
Hydahs  excel  in  their  stone  carvings,  but 
the  Chilkats  have  no  rivals  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  fine  blankets  for  dancing  or  war, 
so  that  all  blankets  in  Alaska,  as  a  rule, 
are  called  "  Chilkat  blankets."  These  are 
made  from  the  wool  of  the  white  goat. 
The  pelts  are  washed  and  combed  and 
used  for  bedding,  but  the  combings  are 
carefully  made  into  rolls  by  the  squaws, 
who  sit  upon  the  ground  and  form  them 
into  their  proper  shape,  when  they  roll  and 
stretch  them  upon  their  bared  knees  with 
the  palms  of  their  hands  into  a  cord  or 
yarn.  This  yarn  they  dye  with  various 
bright  colors,  made  from  roots,  mosses,  and 
barks  of  trees,  and  weave  into  their  blan- 
kets.   Some  are  white  as  snow,  with  highly 


CHILKAT  BLANKETS.  187 

colored  figures  and  stripes  interwoven 
throughout ;  and  others  are  red,  blue,  and 
yellow,  with  the  like  ornamentations  of 
other  colors.  One,  a  dan  :ing  -  blanket, 
which  we  saw,  was  covered  with  figures 
made  of  a  variety  of  white  shells,  embroi- 
dered upon  a  red  ground  ;  and  still  another 
was  studded  with  white  pearl  buttons. 
Long  narrow  strips  with  fringes  were  to 
be  tied  below  the  knees,  and  fringes 
for  the  ankles  accompanied  this  dancing- 
blanket.  Some  of  these  blankets  are  val- 
ued at  a  hundred  dollars,  and  many  tour- 
ists are  found  who  are  willing  to  become 
the  fortunate  purchasers  of  them.  They 
are  woven  by  suspending  the  warp  from  a 
carved  upright  frame,  and  the  bright  colors 
are  woven  in  with  a  bone  or  ivory  shut- 
tle. It  is  a  marvel  how  they  are  kept  free 
from  contact  with  the  dirt  which  surrounds 
them,  but  we  were  told  that  the  squaws 
kept  them  covered  with  a  sheet  resembling 
oiled  silk,  made  from  the  dried  intestines 
of  the  bear,  and  sewed  together  in  strips. 
As  the  wealth  of  the  natives  in  all  the  dif- 
ferent tribes  is  reckoned  by  the  number 
of  blankets  they  possess,  the  Chilkats  are 
considered  the  richest  of  all  Alaskans. 


1 88 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


At  Chilkat  we  picked  up  a  pebble  white 
as  marble,  and  rounded  and  polished  as  if 
worn  into  symmetry  by  the  waves  of  the 
ocean ;  yet  there  it  lay  among  the  rough 
stones  upon  the  little  beach  almost  a  hun- 
dred miles  beyond  their  abrading  influ- 
ence. A  geologist  of  our  party  told  us  it 
was  doubtless  a  glacier  pebble,  worn  into 
its  smooth  and  rounded  form  by  the  grind- 
ing flow  of  an  ancient  glacier,  which  once 
overhung  the  harbor.  The  area  upon 
which  we  landed  was  the  debris  of  a  gla- 
cier, and  we  could  see  the  track  it  left 
upon  the  bare  mountain  side  to  marK  its 
preexistence  as  one  of  the  many  glaciers 
which  are  now  upon  both  sides  of  Lynn 
Channel.  I  picked  from  among  others, 
attracted  by  a  bluish  white  color,  another 
pebble,  somewhat  irregular  in  its  form, 
in  which  were  easily  distinguished  five 
distinct  specks  of  free  gold.  I  gave  it  to 
a  mining  engineer  of  our  party,  who  said 
he  should  send  some  prospectors  back  into 
the  mountains,  following  the  old  track  of 
the  glacier  in  search  of  a  gold  mint.  We 
at  once  named  the  prospective  mine,  or 
perhaps  the  dim  perspective  mine,  "The 
William  Seward."    May  it  some  time  come 


CURIOS. 


189 


to  light  and  give  all  the  honor  that  gold  can 
give  to  the  name  of  the  great  statesman. 

We  brought  from  Chilkat  the  wand  of  a 
Shaman.  The  Indian  who  sold  it  to  us  re- 
marked he  was  glad  to  part  with  it,  "  It 
had  done  much  mischief."  It  was  made 
of  bone,  about  a  foot  in  length,  and  sharply 
pointed  at  one  end,  while  the  other  was 
carved  to  represent  a  grotesque  human 
head. 

At  Juneau  we  found  Indian  coats  and 
robes  made  of  plucked  eagles'  skins  sewed 
together,  and  dried  eagles'  skins  with  head, 
beak,  talons,  wings,  and  entire  plumage  of 
the  noble  birds,  which,  in  the  hands  of  a 
skilful  taxidermist,  can  be  finely  mounted 
as  mementos  of  Alaska.  Dr.  Jackson  told 
us  he  had  seen  great  flocks  of  these  fierce 
birds,  too  numerous  to  be  counted,  flying 
over  the  mountains  and  the  seas.  One 
lady  said  she  had  seen  thirty  or  forty  sit- 
ting upon  the  boughs  of  a  single  tree. 

The  Hydah  Indians  excel  in  their  stone 
carvings.  We  saw  some  beautiful  dark 
stone  vases,  very  antique  and  oriental  in 
shapes,  and  finely  ornamented  with  strange 
figures  of  birds,  beasts,  and  fishes,  com- 
bined  with    human   heads   and    limbs   in 


igo 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


I  < 


Strange  juxtaposition ;  which  all  have  sig- 
nificance to  these  native  artists.  We 
brought  home  with  us  a  rare  stone  pipe  of 
exquisite  finish  and  workmanship.  Their 
vases  are  not  confined  to  one  model.  The 
artists  vary  their  conceptions  of  shape  and 
ornamentation  as  if  they  wrought  out  at 
will  symbols  which  embody  their  own  wild 
and  fantastic  imaginings.  The  instruments 
used  in  all  their  work  are  extremely  few, 
rude,  and  simple. 

Beautiful  silver  rings  and  finely  chased 
bracelets  for  the  wrists  or  ankles  are  made 
from  ten-cent  pieces,  quarters,  halves,  and 
whole  silver  dollars. 

Most  excellent  basket  work  and  table 
mats  come  to  Sitka  and  Juneau  from  the 
Indians  near  Mount  St.  Elias.  They  are 
woven  or  braided  from  the  inner  bark 
of  the  roots  of  trees,  which  is  very  strong 
and  flexible.  They  use  various  colored 
dyes,  and  weave  into  their  work  fanciful 
figures  and  ornamental  stripes.  Old  glass 
bottles  of  whatever  shape  are  avariciously 
seized  upon  and  covered  with  a  delicate 
network  of  woven  fibre,  striped  with  bright 
colors.  These  they  sell  to  tourists  for 
toilet  stands,  etc. 


CURIOS, 


igi 


e 
ic 

g 
d 

il 

iS 

y 

te 

It 
3ir 


At  Sitka  we  saw  many  specimens  of 
work  which  the  mission  girls  and  boys  had 
done  under  the  training  influence  of  the 
school,  showing  that  the  native  Alaskans 
are  susceptible  of  great  advancement  in 
every  desirable  way. 

The  women  and  girls  do  very  fine  nee- 
dle-work ;  the  boys  make  good  carpenters. 
A  pretty  chamber  set  of  white  cedar  was 
shown  to  us,  complete  in  all  its  parts  and 
in  the  modern  style,  which  was  made  wholly 
by  the  Indian  boys.  At  Judge  Brady's 
house  we  were  shown  a  small  model  of  a 
kyack,  or  Indian  war  canoe.  It  was  about 
two  feet  long,  made  of  dried  seal-skins,  and 
manned  completely  by  a  crew  of  Indian 
images,  all  painted  and  arrayed  in  war 
paint  and  dress,  with  eagles'  plumes  and 
instruments  of  warfare.  The  toy  would 
be  a  credit  to  any  manufacturer  among 
us.  A  small  model  in  white  cedar  of  an 
Indian  canoe  was  given  us  by  Dr.  Jack- 
son. It  is  not  only  perfect  as  a  model, 
but  it  is  also  a  marvel  of  neatness  and 
precision  in  execution,  which  would  be  a 
credit  to  the  most  skilful  workman  among 
our  own  people. 

We  were  told  at  Sitka  that  the  lowest 


192 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


degree  of  cold  marked  by  the  mercury  in 
the  previous  winter  of  1887  and  1888  was 
6°  above  zero.  In  truth,  the  climate  is  less 
severe  anywhere  upon  the  coast  of  Alaska 
as  far  west  as  Cross  Sound  than  is  that 
of  New  England,  owing  to  the  Japanese 
current,  the  "  black  stream,"  or  Kuro-Siwo. 
This  warm  equatorial  current  in  the  Pacific 
affects  and  moderates  the  climate  of  the 
great  Alexander  Archipelago,  as  the  Gulf 
Stream  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  does  that  of 
the  British  Isles. 

There  are  but  very  few  domestic  animals 
in  Alaska.  At  Sitka  there  was  one  mule, 
which  did  no  labor,  and  two  cows.  The 
latter  were  owned  by  a  lady  who  went  to 
Nanaimo  and  purchased  them  the  season 
before  we  saw  them.  She  sold  their  milk 
for  fifteen  cents  per  quart,  but  did  not  find 
it  profitable  to  keep  them,  as  she  was  forced 
to  send  to  southern  ports  for  grain,  etc.,  to 
feed  them. 

There  are  wild  strawberries  in  abun- 
dance at  Sitka,  and  the  red-bear  berry,  a 
kind  of  coarse,  wild  raspberry,  which  we 
sometimes  find  in  the  woods  of  New  Eng- 
land ;  but  the  summer  is  too  short  to  per- 
fect apples,  peaches,  etc. 


■i.-r^.^- 


HOUSES. 


193 


The  fuel  is  obtained  by  the  natives,  who 
go  in  their  canoes  and  fell  the  trees,  which 
grow  so  near  the  shore  that  they  will  fall 
into  the  water.  These  they  float  toward 
the  desired  point,  where  they  cut  them 
into  fire -wood,  which  they  convey  upon 
their  backs  to  those  who  purchase  it. 

At  Juneau  there  was  one  horse,  a  poor 
creature,  which  picked  its  way  along  the 
stony  roadway  on  the  shore  as  if  disheu.rt- 
ened  at  its  lonely  existence.  These  were 
the  only  domestic  animals,  excepting  dogs, 
which  we  saw  in  Alaska. 

The  houses  are  usually  built  of  rough 
logs  placed  upright  and  close  together,  and 
then  plastered  with  blue  clay,  all  hollows 
and  cracks  being  filled  with  it.  They  are 
then  covered  with  boards,  which  overlap  so 
as  to  shed  rain  and  snow,  which  makes 
them  warm  and  safe  as  a  fortress  of  de- 
fence against  attacks  from  disaffected  na- 
tives or  wild  beasts.    ,. 

Mr.  Weesner,  of  the  Friends'  Mission  at 
Douglas  Island,  told  us  they  brought  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  these  logs  upon  their 
backs  from  the  forest,  and  with  them  built 
the  outer  walls  of  their  schoolhouse.  The 
labor  of  building  is  very  arduous  when  it 


194 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


is  considered  that  they  have  no  means  of 
transporting  heavy  burdens  excepting  upon 
their  own  backs. 

At  three  o'clock  p.  m.  we  were  mak- 
ing all  the  speed  we  could,  for  the  sky 
was  gray  and  the  rain  falling  fast.  An 
hour  later  the  mountains  upon  the  conti- 
nent were  wholly  hidden  from  us,  and  the 
green  mountain  islands  were  dark  and 
shadowy  in  the  thick,  shrouding  rain. 
The  wind  came  down  in  gusts  at  first,  and 
then  blew  a  steady  gale  from  the  south- 
east. 

The  sea  tossed,  and  the  waves  rose 
high  about  us,  crested  with  foam,  which 
flew  away  like  feathers  upon  the  wind,  as 
they  broke  and  gave  place  to  others. 
Far  as  I  could  see,  there  was  nothing  but 
the  white  waves  of  the  ocean,  tossing  and 
rolling  in  great  heaving  swells,  and  fling- 
ing their  spray  like  flakes  of  snow,  under 
the  brooding  darkness  of  the  sky. 

The  wind  was  right  against  us  in  our 
course,  and  actually  howled  about  the  ship 
and  whistled  in  her  rigging.  The  storm 
continued  to  increase  for  more  than  an 
hour  ;  the  wind  held  steady,  and  the  ship 
rose  and  pitched  with  every  swell,  cutting 


NAHA   BAY. 


195 


the  deep  troughs  between  with  unfaltering 
progress. 

The  scene  was  truly  a  sublime  one.  I 
watched  the  force  of  the  storm  upon  the 
ocean  until  past  ten  o'clock,  when  I  closed 
the  curtain  of  our  window  and  lay  down 
awhile  to  await  the  developments  of  the 
night. 

We  peeped  out  occasionally  at  the  sea. 
It  grew  somewhat  calmer  as  we  advanced 
more  within  the  shelter  of  the  islands,  and 
the  sky  was  less  dark.  We  were  making 
for  Naha  Bay,  where  was  a  safe  harbor  at 
Loring.  A  little  before  midnight  the  ship 
checked  her  speed,  and  I  recognized  the 
headlands  of  Naha  Bay.  Soon  followed 
the  report  of  her  gun  and  its  resounding 
echoes,  and  then  the  shrill  whistle  of  her 
engine. 

Signal  lights  appeared  at  the  salmon 
cannery,  and  we  moved  on  to  our  anchor- 
age, where  we  hoped  to  remain  until  day- 
light. Just  as  we  were  dropping  asleep 
with  an  assurance  of  safety  until  morning, 
we  had  a  suspicion  that  the  ship  had  re- 
sumed her  voyage. 

May  9.  At  five  A.  m.  We  have  just 
passed  through  Tongas  Narrows  in  safety 


196 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


and  are  now  in  Dixon's  Entrance,  having 
left  Naha  Bay  at  one  a.  m.  The  ship  pur- 
sued her  way  through  the  storm  and  dark- 
ness, within  the  shelter  of  the  islands,  so 
quietly  that  it  was  only  when  she  took  on 
her  usual  speed  in  clearer  waters  that  we 
were  aroused  from  our  sleep. 

At  the  breakfast-table  Captain  Hunter 
looked  anxious  and  weary  with  his  night 
of  watchfulness  and  labor.  He  remarked 
that  he  should  call  only  at  those  ports 
where  he  was  assured  of  the  safety  of  his 
ship,  as  the  storm  was  still  severe. 

Fortunately  I  have  been  able  to  keep 
my  head  erect  and  level.  None  of  us  have 
expressed  fear,  although  we  have  learned 
that  wrecks  are  ail  too  frequent  in  these 
waters  during  a  storm  to  make  it  a  jest  to 
navigate  them. 

Captain  Hunter  inspires  every  one  with 
confidence.  He  is  a  Swede  by  birth, 
married  to  an  English  wife,  and  has  been 
navigating  along  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
coast  for  many  years.  His  untiring 
watchfulness  and  honest  expression  of  the 
responsibilities  of  his  charge,  coupled  with 
his  acknowledged  reputation  as  a  wise  and 
skilful  commander  and  navigator,  give  us 


DIXON'S  ENTRANCE. 


197 


all  confidence  ii.  the  safe  completion,  in 
good  time,  of  our  adventurous  northern 
tour. 

Nine  A.  m.  The  storm  runs  high  ;  the 
wind  is  strong  and  loud,  and  the  waves 
beat  upon  the  rocky  shores  and  leap  and 
dash  their  foam  higher  than  the  tops  of 
the  trees.  The  ship  rolls  and  pitches  in 
the  swells  and  troughs  of  the  sea  so  that 
one  can  hardly  cross  the  saloon  in  safety. 
The  sea  everywhere  is  white  with  crested 
waves,  which  seethe  and  toss  in  all  direc- 
tions. 

The  old  porter,  who  has  sailed  the  seas 
all  his  life,  solemnly  blinks  his  small  eyes 
at  me  and  answers,  "  Yes,  ma'am,  it  is  a 
fine  chopping  sea,  and  the  wind  is  more 
than  half  a  gale." 

Very  few  gentlemen  have  been  seen  on 
deck  to-day.  I  stand  and  watch  the  sea, 
braced  with  bent  knees  and  clenched 
hands  against  a  window  in  the  saloon. 
The  good  ship  rises  and  falls  from  side 
to  side  with  the  sea ;  at  times,  with  the 
regularity  of  a  pendulum,  and  then  with 
a  wild  and  lurching  pace,  she  stumbles 
through  the  billows,  and  rises  and  moves 
stately  on  again  with  the  ease  and  grace 
of  a  buoyant  bird  upon  the  stormy  waves. 


198 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


If  my  head  swims  a  bit,  my  eyes  fly  to 
the  firm-set  mountains  upon  the  shore,  and 
I  realize  literally  what  it  is  to  "  Lift  up  mine 
eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence  cometh 
my  help." 

10.30  A.  M.  The  rain  comes  down  in 
torrents.  There  is  no  sign  of  land  in  any 
direction,  but  water  —  water  everywhere. 
The  words  of  the  old  song,  I  heard  in  my 
childhood,  come  to  my  memory  like  a 
thing  of  yesterday  : 

"  Cease,  rude  Boreas,  blustering  railer ; 
List,  ye  Landsmen,  all  to  me ; 
Messmate,  hear  a  brother  sailor 
Sing  the  dangers  of  the  sea." 

II  o'clock  A.  M.  The  waves  run  less 
high,  and  five  minutes  later  the  fierce 
squall  seems  to  have  spent  its  fury,  the 
coast  appears  dark  but  distinct,  and  the 
clouds  begin  to  break  away  above  it.  The 
wind  is  less  boisterous  and  the  waves  are 
calmer,  as  we  come  within  the  shelter  of 
Porcher  Island. 

3  p.  M.  We  are  in  Grenville  Strait,  and 
the  wildness  and  grandeur  of  the  storm  at 
sea  is  past.  It  continues  to  rain,  but  in 
frequent  showers  rather  than  a  steady 
down-pour.     The  scenery  upon  shore,  for 


■ 


C RENVILLE  STRAIT. 


199 


the  first  time  since  we  left  Fort  Wrangell, 
begins  to  assert  its  claim  upon  us.  The 
mountains  upon  both  sides  stand  up  bold 
and  beautiful,  with  mossy  rocks  and  hard, 
bare  summits,  while  thick  evergreen  trees 
cover  their  sides  down  to  the  water  every- 
where. 

There  is  not  the  depth  of  snow  upon 
them  that  we  saw  two  weeks  ago,  but  still 
enough  to  give  us  a  succession  of  water- 
falls. Some,  like  silver  ribbons,  can  be 
traced  from  summit  to  base,  and  others 
large  and  leaping  down  from  steep  to 
steep,  now  in  full  relief  against  the  dark 
mountain  side,  and  then  half  hidden  by  a 
veil  of  green.  Sometimes  they  come  with 
a  single  bound  into  the  sea,  and  sometimes 
they  lose  themselves  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains  as  if  some  cavern  had  opened 
for  them  a  way  beneath  the  shore. 

For  fifty  miles  this  marvellous  roadctoad  :4u^*am^ 
leads  on  between  Pitt  Island  and  the  con- 
tinent, presenting  a  most  fascinating  nat- 
ural panorama  of  green  mountain  steeps 
and  sterile  rocky  fastnesses,  hung  all 
along  with 
tain  torrents  — 


glorious   cascades  and  moun- 


Whose  organ-thunders  never  fail 
Behind  the  cataract's  silver  veil." 


2(X) 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


May  lo.  A  lady  who  came  on  board 
with  her  sick  husband  at  Sitka,  and  to 
whom  we  gave  one  of  our  staterooms  on 
the  return  passage,  awoke  us  at  an  early 
hour.  The  gentleman  had  little  hope  of 
surviving  the  voyage  when  he  started,  and 
at  lo  A.  M.  he  died. 

We  came  into  Queen  Charlotte  Sound, 
where  we  received  the  full  force  of  the 
ocean  swells,  and  for  three  hours  there 
was  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  to  patiently 
suffer  and  endure.  Nearly  every  one  re- 
tired during  the  passage,  but  I  braced  my- 
self and  kept  my  eyes  upon  the  sea  and 
the  mountains  on  the  coast.  The  rain 
sometimes  hid  them  from  my  sight,  but  I 
lookeu  where  I  knew  they  were  still  stand- 
ing behind  the  mist,  and  kept  my  head 
level  with  will-power,  while  I  swayed  with 
the  rolling  and  the  plunging  of  the  ship. 

The  old  porter  said,  "  Yes,  ma'am  ;  it  is 
a  rough  sea;"  but  with  another  turn  of  his 
queer  little  eyes,  as  if  to  dispel  any  fear  I 
might  indulge  in,  he  added,  "  Not  rough 
weather  noiv,  ma'am."  We  all  survived 
the  seas  of  Queen  Charlotte,  and  when  we 
reached  Johnstone  Strait,  Vancouver's  Is- 
land once  more  presented  its  broad  and 


QUEEN  CHARLOTTE  SOUND.         20I 

Storm-worn    shield   between  us    and  the 
vexed  waves  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

It  is  wonderful  what  recuperative  capac- 
ities a  seasick  voyager  manifests  as  soon 
as  the  obnoxious  cause  of  the  disease 
ceases  to  exist.  Our  lunch  was  spoiled,  for 
we  would  not  attempt  the  passage  of  the 
stairway,  when  so  doubtful  of  our  ability 
to  cross  the  saloon.  We  knew  ve  could 
never  navigate  it  gracefviUy,  however  safely 
we  might  have  done  it. 

At  three  o'clock  p.  m.  we  sighted  the 
Anchon,  the  companion  steamer  for  Alaska. 
The  storm  of  the  previous  day  had  made 
it  impossible  for  us  to  stop  at  Fort  Ton- 
gas, to  leave  the  custom  deputy,  who  was 
on  board  from  Sitka,  and  our  ship  signalled 
the  Anchon  to  lay  by  and  take  him  back 
to  Tongas.  It  took  half  an  hour  for  the 
Anchon  to  come,  take  on  board  our  pas- 
senger, exchange  mails,  etc.,  and  go  again 
upon  her  way. 

We  felt  a  pity  for  the  gay  group  of  tour- 
ists on  her  deck,  who  would  in  less  than  an 
hour  be  seeking  what  solace  they  might 
find  upon  their  beds  in  the  stifled  atmos- 
phere of  a  state-room  below  the  deck  ;  for 
Queen  Charlotte  had  not  yet  had  time  to 


202 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


compose  her  arigry,  storm-vexed  billows 
into  a  state  of  ease  and  quietude.  This 
day  has  been  rather  a  sad  one  for  all  of 
us,  and  also  uneventful  save  to  the  poor 
woman  whose  husband  lies  in  his  coffin 
upon  the  captain's  deck  above  us.  At  mid- 
night the  stars  shone  bright. 

May  II.  We  were  glad  to  see  the  sun 
shining  over  the  green  islands  and  moun- 
tains on  our  left  as  we  arose  this  morning, 
and  were  thankful  for  the  light  of  its  coun- 
tenance once  more. 

We  were  again  in  the  Bay  of  Georgia, 
and  a*,  seven  o'clock  called  at  Departure 
Bay  and  transferred  Captain  Frances,  a 
naval  officer  who  came  with  us  from  Sitka, 
to  the  government  ship  Thetis,  which  lay 
in  the  bay.  The  Thetis  was  on  her  way 
to  Sitka  to  relieve  the  ship  Pinta,  which 
has  been  stationed  in  Alaskan  waters  for 
some  time. 

Departure  Bay  is  a  small  but  deep  har- 
bor upon  Vancouver's  Island  a  few  miles 
above  Nanaimo,  and  is  a  coaling  port  for 
all  British  ships  navigating  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  A  fine  large  merchant  steamer 
was  standing  at  her  pier  about  to  start 
for  Japan  and  China. 


NANAIMO. 


203 


Wellington  coal  mines  are  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Departure  Bay,  and  the  town  is  the 
outgrowth  of  its  extensive  operation.  It 
is  rather  larger  and  more  attractive  in 
appearance  than  Nanaimo.  It  may  be  an 
older  settlement. 

We  reached  Nanaimo  at  8  a.  m.  and 
shall  remain  an  indefinite  time,  as  the  cap- 
tain has  orders  to  lay  in  1200  tons  of  coal 
for  transportation  to  southern  ports. 

I  read  "  The  Angel  of  Patience  "  to  poor 
Mrs.  Overend  this  morning.  I  am  afraid 
we  shall  feel  the  need  of  invoking  the  aid 
of  the  same  good  angel  for  ourselves  be- 
fore we  get  away  from  Nanaimo. 

We  went  on  shore  and  heard  of  the 
wreck  of  the  Queen  c^  the  Pacific,  some- 
where near  Monterey,  in  the  late  fearful 
storm  which  we  encountered.  We  are  the 
more  thankful  for  our  preservation  from 
similar  disaster  among  the  shoals  and  nar- 
rows of  the  inland  passage  to  Alaska. 

The  Queen  of  the  Pacific  was  a  com- 
panion ship  to  the  G.  W.  Elder  of  the  Pa- 
cific Steamship  Company,  between  San 
Francisco  and  San  Diego ;  the  Elder  hav- 
ing but  temporarily  been  diverged  from 
her  usual  route  to  the  trading  posts  and 
fishing  stations  in  Alaska. 


204 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


We  posted  our  letters  at  Nanaimo  for 
friends  at  home.  The  post-office  is  a  fine, 
large  building  built  of  hewn  stone  upon  a 
steep  bluff  above  the  harbor,  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  town.  Not  far  from  it  is 
an  old  block  tower  which  was  used  by  the 
first  settlers  as  a  place  of  refuge  from  the 
Indians.  This  stands  upon  a  precipitous 
bluff  upon  the  shore,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Nanaimo  River,  —  a  pretty  little  stream 
which  comes  dancing  down  from  the  high 
hills  behind  the  town  into  a  broad  shallow 
below  the  tower.  There  is  one  good  road- 
way leading  toward  Departure  Bay,  but 
there  were  few  signs  of  any  cultivation  of 
the  soil. 

We  found  several  pretty  rustic  bridges 
over  the  Nanaimo  River,  and  the  roadsides 
were  bright  with  a  variety  of  wild  flowers, 
many  more  than  we  can  hope  to  find  in 
New  England  upon  our  waysides  in  the 
month  of  June. 

The  coaling  of  the  ship  goes  on  quite 
slowly,  as  the  coal  is  al!  mined  after  an 
order  has  been  received  for  its  delivery. 
None  is  kept  upon  the  surface,  as  it  is  of 
such  a  nature  that  it  is  injured  by  long 
exposure  to  the  air.     It  is  dumped  upon 


NANAIMO. 


205 


the  cars  which  stand  beside  the  shaft,  and 
brought  to  the  ship  and  discharged,  while 
another  lot  is  being  mined,  and  there  are 
often  intervals  of  waiting.  The  work  goes 
on  nearly  through  the  night,  and  we  get 
what  sleep  we  can,  with  the  rattling  of 
coal  down  the  hatches  of  the  ship. 

May  12.  This  day  we  spent  upon  ship- 
board waiting  to  resume  our  homeward 
voyage.  The  only  incident  to  record  is 
the  strange  fish  which  was  landed  upon 
the  pier  by  some  boys  of  the  town.  It 
was  a  star-fish,  but  possessed  of  the  very 
unusual  number  of  sixteen  finger-like  rays. 
The  creature  was  of  huffish  color  and  was 
encased  in  a  kind  of  embossed  mail  —  a 
very  strange  specimen  of  its  kind,  and  we 
have  been  unable  to  find  an  account  of  it 
in  natural  histories. 

At  five  o'clock  p.  m.  the  coal  is  all 
stored  in  the  hold  of  our  ship  (1400  tons), 
and  we  are  ready  to  bid  adieu  to  Nanaimo 
and  its  quiet  and  picturesque  little  harbor. 
The  air  is  balmy,  the  skies  cloudless,  and 
the  sun  shines  brightly  upon  sea  and 
mountains,  giving  promise  of  a  delightful 
sunset  and  a  lingering  twiUght. 

We  passed  out  between  the  pretty  is- 


206 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA, 


V  ) 


lands  and  soon  came  past  the  outer  light- 
houses, into  the  broader  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  Georgia.  The  mountains  i-e  .ed 
their  white  serrated  lines  upon  our  left, 
and  soon  we  saw  the  sharp  high  peak  of 
Mount  Baker  in  the  south.  The  sun  was 
shining  full  upon  them,  and  they  reflected 
its  light  with  a  cold  and  pearly  lustre. 

We  saw  the  water  of  the  Frazer  River 
for  many  miles  before  we  passed  its  en- 
trance to  the  gulf.  It  seemed  to  preserve 
its  continuity,  its  motion,  and  its  deep  dun 
color,  flowing  upon  the  sea  as  upon  the 
land,  a  mighty  rolling  river. 

As  we  approached  Victoria  the  sunset 
light  began  to  glow  with  a  faint  pink  color 
upon  the  lofty  summit  of  Mount  Baker, 
and  soon  the  whole  line  sweeping  far  up 
the  gulf  to  the  north  was  bathed  in  a  deep 
roseate  light,  like  that  which  travellers 
have  described  upon  Mount  Blanc. 

The  day  passed,  and  we  left  the  city  of 
Victoria,  the  blue  waters  of  the  Gulf  of 
Georgia,  and  the  purple  lights  upon  the 
distant  mountains  all  behind,  and  went  on 
in  the  gray  twilight  and  the  night. 

May  13.  (Sunday  morning.)  We  ar- 
rived at  Port  Townsend  early  in  the  morn- 


TACOMA. 


207 


ing  and  prepared  to  leave  the  steamer,  as 
we  had  here  completed  our  voyage,  prefer- 
ring to  return  to  Tacoma  upon  the  local 
boat,  thence  by  rail  to  Portland,  rather 
than  encounter  the  delays  which  we  might 
experience  on  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River. 

We  spent  the  day  at  the  hotel  near  the 
Sound,  quietly  resting  from  our  voyage, 
and  repacking  our  trunks,  which  had  been 
practically  closed  to  us  for  three  weeks. 

May  14.  We  went  on  board  The  Star 
and  took  passage  for  Tacoma,  making  a 
short  call  at  Seattle  by  the  way. 

The  beautiful  mountain,  which  is  the 
pride  and  glory  of  Seattle  and  Tacoma, 
veiled  itself  in  thick  white  clouds  as  we 
went  down  between  the  islands  of  the 
Sound,  whose  waters  seemed  alive  and 
throbbing  still  with  the  impellent  forces  of 
our  recent  storm. 

As  we  lost  sight  of  the  city  of  Seattle 
in  the  distance  behind  us  and  came  near  to 
the  city  of  Tacoma,  the  mountain  parted 
the  heavy  cloud  and  cast  it  away,  standing 
before  us  free  and  peerless  in  its  beauty. 
I  took  it  as  an  omen,  and  henceforth  shall 
know  it  only  as  "  Mount  Tacoma." 


208 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


MOUNT  TACOMA. 

Tacoma,  Tacoma  !  who  bade  thee  arise 

From  the  caverns  of  earth  to  thy  throne  in  the  skies  ? 

Thy  footstool   the  mountains,  which  round   thee  bend 

low, 
And  cover  their  heads  with  their  mantles  of  snow  ; 
Who  clothed  thee  with  ermine,  to  hide  from  our  sight 
Thj'  birth-marks  of  fire,  in  the  drear  realms  of  night  ? 
Who  placed  on  thy  forehead  that  mitre  of  ice  ? 
On  the  shields  of  thy  armor,  who  carved  the  device  ? 
As  in  ages  long  past,  shall  the  ages  to  come 
Roll  their  cycles  above  thee,  and  still  thou  be  dumb? 
Dost  thou  number  the  ages  that  over  thee  roll  ? 
When  the  Heavens  shall  melt  and  depart  like  a  scroll 
In  the  fullness  of  time,  will  the  earth  yawn  below 
Thy  vast  solemn  arches  of  crystal  and  snow  ? 
And  wilt  thou,  in  thy  season,  as  tides  seek  the  sea, 
Sink  to  caverns  abysmal,  long  waiting  for  thee  ? 
O  lovely  Tacoma,  thou  standest  alone ; 
Thy  cold  lips  are  silent,  thy  heart  is  a  stone. 
It  is  not  for  mortals  to  ask  the  design 
Of  Him  who  holds  worlds  in  the  balance  of  time. 
His  Heavens  ate  above  thee,  His  earth  lies  below; 
His  storms  weave  around  thee  thy  garment  of  snow ; 
His  sun  forged  thy  armor  and  wrought  on  its  shield 
A  legend  whose  secret  the  ages  have  sealed. 

A.  J.  W. 
Tacoma,  May  14,  1888. 


5 


VII. 


CONCLUSION. 


Happy  is  the  tourist  who  sees  Alaska 
in  its  wild  and  grand  simplicity.  That  it 
is  destined  to  be  a  mine  of  wealth  to  our 
country,  is  conceded  by  all  who  have  be- 
come acquainted  with  its  vast  resources. 
Its  fisheries  alone  have  already  several 
times  over  repaid  to  our  government  the 
price  of  its  purchase  from  Russia.  Its 
mines  of  gold  and  other  precious  ores  are 
inexhaustible ;  the  mountains  themselves 
are  being  "  removed  hence "  from  their 
foundations,  and  deposited  as  sands  in  the 
sea,  in  the  process  of  yielding  to  man  the 
gold  which  is  found  to  pervade  them.  Im- 
mense forests  of  firs,  pines,  and  cedars 
cover  its  vast  areas,  awaiting  the  enter- 
prise of  our  people  to  be  converted  into 
material  which  shall  supply  the  demands 
of  a  commercial  fleet  upon  the  broad  Pa- 
cific such  as  never  existed  for  our  Atlantic 
shores.     Cities  will  spring  up  all  along  our 


210 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


Alaskan  coast,  and  the  land  which  pre- 
sents a  primeval  aspect  to-day,  will  become 
worn  and  marked  by  traffic,  and  the  at- 
tendant changes  and  embellishpients  which 
follow  upon  the  footsteps  of  civilization, 
when  the  Alaska  of  to-day  will  cease  to  be. 
Those  **  who  have  eyes  to  see,  and  see 
not,"  may  prefer  the  Alaska  of  the  future 
to  that  of  the  present.  Let  such  defer 
their  journey  to  our  Northwest  until  the 
later  day,  if  they  choose ;  but  to  all  who 
delight  in  the  wild  and  rugged  scenes  of 
Nature,  who  love  to  listen  to  the  sweet 
and  solemn  voices  which  break  upon  the 
silences  of  her  solitudes,  I  would  say,  de- 
lay not  too  long  your  tour  to  Alaska.  If 
the  comforts  and  conventionalities  of  a 
palace  hotel  have  been  necessary  to  the 
enjoyments  of  travel,  try  now  the  primitive 
accommodations  which  necessarily  attend 
an  extended  tour  in  this  region,  and  I 
promise  you  the  pleasure  you  will  experi- 
ence will  counterbalance  all  inconven- 
iences. Besides,  you  will  surely  desire  to 
repeat  the  journey  later,  when,  perhaps, 
the  luxury  afforded  by  the  coming  cara- 
vansary which  will  doubtless  be  erected  in 
Sitka  at  no  very  remote   day,  will   com- 


CONCLUSION. 


211 


pensate  for  all  past  privations,  and  be  the 
more  appreciated  by  the  contrast.  I  ven- 
ture to  predict,  however,  that  the  pleasure 
and  satisfaction  derived  from  the  early 
tour  will  outlast  all  that  can  follow  in  the 
wake  of  a  greater  civilization. 

A  good  field  -  glass  is  indispensable  to 
a  tourist's  outfit,  as  are  also  rubber  over- 
shoes, waterproof  wrap,  and  an  umbrella. 
Clothing,  such  as  is  worn  upon  ordinary 
winter  travel  in  New  England,  with  an 
extra  shawl,  will  be  quite  sufficient  to  meet 
all  exposures  of  the  climate,  and  enable  one 
to  spend  most  of  the  time  upon  deck  if 
desirable. 

In  the  preceding  account  of  our  tour  in 
Alaska,  I  have  inclined  my  ears  to  nature 
and  simply  "  told  the  tale  as  it  was  told 
to  me."  Some  who  will  go  there  may  re- 
turn with  the  impression  that  I  have  some- 
what exaggerated  in  my  descriptions  of 
what  we  saw.  Many  will  no  doubt  declare 
that  "  the  half  has  not  been  told  to  them  "  ; 
while  an  exceptional  few  will  bring  home 
with  them  little  but  the  memory  of  the 
final  score  at  euchre  and  the  passing  de- 
light of  the  last  flirtation,  having  seen  or 
heard  naught  of  the  wonderful  revelations 


% 


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212 


PICTURESQUE  ALASKA. 


of  Nature.  I  can  only  refer  these  last  to 
the  response  of  the  artist  Turner.  When 
a  lady  to  whom  he  was  exhibiting  one  of 
his  rarely  beautiful  delineations  of  the  set- 
ting sun,  remarked  to  him,  "  I  never  saw 
a  sunset  look  like  that,"  he  replied  with 
a  characteristic  expletive :  "  Don't  you 
wish  you  could,  madam  ?  " 


